Tag Archives: Economy

Fiscal Scorecard: How COVID Torched the Budget

When President Donald Trump took office in January 2017, he inherited a relatively stable fiscal environment. The federal budget deficit stood at approximately $581 billion, or 3.05% of GDP—a level widely regarded as sustainable by historical standards. Ironically, that same … Continue reading

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Global Risk Monitor: Weekly Update – May 23

Last week’s Global Risk Monitor (GRM) warned of potential instability in global tariff negotiations, and unfortunately, those concerns proved prescient. Markets stumbled under the weight of fiscal volatility, erratic policy pronouncements, and renewed trade threats—all driven by the chaotic and … Continue reading

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HOTD: Back to Liberation Day?

HOTD = Headline of the Day As we suspected in yesterday’s Global Risk Monitor, recent developments confirm a deteriorating trajectory in U.S. trade negotiations. Today’s Financial Times headline underscores the hardening U.S. stance, signaling heightened tariff risks for non-cooperative trade … Continue reading

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Global Risk Monitor: Weekly Update – May 16

Financial markets continued to rebound this week, buoyed by temporary trade de-escalations and looser financial conditions. However, beneath the surface of this rally lies a landscape of historically elevated valuations and persistent uncertainty. Market participants should temper optimism, as the … Continue reading

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Global PMI: Growth at 17-month Low

Key Takeaways: Global economic growth slowed in April 2025, with the Composite PMI falling to 50.8—its lowest in 17 months and below the long-term average. Service sector expansion weakened significantly, while manufacturing remained tepid with only slight growth in consumer … Continue reading

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Global Risk Monitor: Weekly Update – May 2

This week, global equities extended their recovery, buoyed by rising optimism over potential U.S.–China trade negotiations. Though no formal talks or trade agreements have been signed and most tariffs remain in place—including broad-based global levies—markets responded positively to U.S. administration … Continue reading

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Global Risk Monitor: Weekly Update – April 25

Global markets staged an impressive rebound this week, fueled by growing optimism that trade tensions between the United States and China may soon ease and that some bilateral trade deals are imminent.  Investors eagerly latched onto comments from U.S. Treasury … Continue reading

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The Anatomy of a Bond and Currency Crisis

It was the autumn of 1996 when I arrived in Sofia, Bulgaria.  I was working for a major Wall Street investment bank and had a clear and urgent mission to assess the sustainability of Bulgaria’s sovereign debt. The atmosphere in … Continue reading

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Global Risk Monitor: Weekly Update – April 18

Happy Easter, folks! The Trump administration’s tariff strategy continues to function less as a deliberate trade policy and more as a volatile, reactionary experiment. Markets are grappling with a growing realization: there is no unified objective anchoring current U.S. trade … Continue reading

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Global Risk Monitor: Weekly Update – April 11

The United States’ current tariff regime reveals not a strategic plan but an erratic response to market volatility, suggesting a governing philosophy resembling reactive day trading more closely than structured economic policymaking. As the week’s developments show, the absence of … Continue reading

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