The US dollar has been the world’s premier reserve currency since the Bretton Woods Agreement of 1944. Until 1971 it was redeemable by foreign central banks in gold at $35 per ounce. As long as [more…]
News here in the US has been full of the latest farce known as raising or not raising the debt ceiling. Today (Thursday, May25, 2023) the Wall Street Journal’s headline story reassures us that progress [more…]
A real systemic crisis If there was one thing more telling than the bank failures themselves, it was the governments’ reaction to them. The sheer panic that shook US, Swiss and Eurozone officials was almost pitiable [more…]
It might sound like an old-fashioned notion, the sort of thing that one reads about in period novels and romantically sighs “oh, the good old days”. It might sound like old timely advice, perhaps of [more…]
By now even Treasury officials and central banks recognise that their practice of Quantitative Easing has run its course. In its contemporary form, QE began a dozen years ago as a temporary emergency measure enacted [more…]
Every time I start this essay I find the political background has shifted so dramatically that I have to start again. Only Ollie’s complaint to Stan seems to be an apt constant: “another fine mess [more…]
The end of world dollar hegemony is coming and hardly anyone in government is taking notice or even understands what this means. Since the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944, the dollar has been the only [more…]
Several readers expressed surprise that last week’s essay concerned my personal NHS experiences rather than the pressing issues of the day. In such a rapidly changing economic picture no commentary can ever be bang-up-to-date, while [more…]
It’s been a tumultuous couple of months in UK politics. After a troubled time in office, plagued by scandal, internal party frictions and much public embarrassment, Boris Johnson exited the stage leaving behind a big [more…]
Copyright © 2026 | MH Magazine WordPress Theme by MH Themes