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QE

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Markets 3rd April 2014

Market chatter: ECB’s talking yet non acting

MADRID | By Jaime Santisteban | “The IMF nor politicians will have influence on the ECB as long as Mr. Draghi is running it” Link’s chief analyst J.J. Figares points out. As expected, the monetary authority announced on Thursday that it will stand still in spite of deflation tensions, maintaining interest rates at an all-time-minimum 0.25 % and choosing not to use the little ammunition it has left. However, Mr. Draghi left the door open for stimulus if needed.

Champagne Bottle

Markets 27th March 2014

Market chatter: bonds await ECB’s move

MADRID | By Julia Pastor | European sovereign bonds markets have put some champagne bottles on the fridge for next neek in the case the ECB decides to inject some stimulus on the euro zone at last. Without setting a precedent, president Mario Draghi and Bundesbank’s head Jens Weidmann seem to bring their positions over the mechanism closer. This change of direction led Spanish 10-years bonds to 2005’s minimum yields of 3.27% and was behind the successful issue of Italian public Treasury, which sold €2.5 bn at also very low prices. Just Greece’s bonds are trending downwards.

 

Cerrar ojos

World economy 26th December 2013

QE Effects: Shut Your Eyes to The Evidence

MADRID | By Luis Arroyo | Monetary policy has worked in the countries which have implemented it without feeling ashamed. The US, UK, Japan or even Switzerland have reactivated their economies and diminished wealth imbalances, at least in comparison with the euro zone. However it is also truth that QE efficiency has performed poorly.

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World economy 24th July 2013

The Implications of Diverging Monetary Policies

By Andy Xie via Caixin Magazine |  The monetary policies of major economies are diverging for the first time since 2008. The euro zone, Britain and Japan are sustaining quantitative easing, while the United States, China and other major emerging economies are on a tightening path. The divergence is creating trends in some markets, volatility and confusion in others.

Golden Dollar

World economy 15th July 2013

Disarmed austerity

MADRID | By Luis Arroyo | Since Quantitative Easing programmes began, the dollar has been strengthened, that is, its price has gone up against the most used currencies in the international markets.

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In Europe 10th April 2013

The Ying and Yang of Economic Policy

By David Denton | The Richter Scale |  The UK QE has merely allowed the banks to off load UK government debt and replace this with other government debt, helping to keep bond prices high but having no impact on the real economy, other than to keep interest rates artificially low.

recession

World economy 17th July 2012

British inflation draws a faltering economy

LONDON | Since the consumer price index began to record UK’s month on month inflation back in 1996, the downturn experienced in the clothing and footwear section from May to June this year has doubled the next largest decrease. The data, released Tuesday by the Office for National Statistics, brought inflation from 2.8 percent to 2.4 percent, while the retail price index fell, too, from 3.1 percent to 2.8 percent….