There has been considerable discussion around the rise in long-term US government interest rates. While European government bond yields have clearly moved higher since the beginning of the year, it is the long end of the US yield curve that is unchanged since the beginning of the year. Unchanged? Hardly. Over the past six months, we’ve seen notable volatility. Following ‘Liber ...

In recent years, climate action policies have been on the rise. With record-breaking innovation, newly installed green energy capacity, and structures like the Emissions Trading System pushing companies to go green, it once seemed possible that achieving our climate goals could become a reality. Of course, we still needed to accelerate progress, but at the very least, the world ...

The latest US Consumer Price Index (CPI) reading showed a modest increase to 2.4%, largely subdued by falling oil prices and a drop in airline fares. However, underlying inflationary forces are building, likely pushing US CPI above 4% soon. Following tariff hikes implemented in April, businesses across the US are now grappling with rising input costs. A 10% import tariff has b ...

In the fast-evolving world of sustainable investing, it’s easy to get swept up in thematic megatrends, green taxonomies, or the latest net-zero frameworks. But sometimes, the most powerful ESG signals are the most obvious ones: negative headlines. From oil spills to human rights violations, corporate controversies remain one of the clearest indicators that something’s gone wron ...

Each year, the International Energy Agency publishes its World Energy Outlook, outlining plausible trajectories for the global energy system. Since the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2015, those trajectories have consistently been trying to pinpoint 'peak coal': the moment when global consumption would reach its maximum and begin an irreversible decline. Yet almost a decade ...

This week’s fiery flash features not one, but two heavyweights: Visa and Mastercard. Alongside American Express, they form an oligopoly in card issuance, commanding the vast majority of market share in the space. More broadly, Visa and Mastercard serve as the Western world’s primary payment rails, refering to the vast electronic networks they operate, processing trillions in tr ...

The blue bond market, a niche yet rapidly evolving segment of sustainable finance, is gaining momentum as investors and issuers recognize the critical importance of ocean conservation and sustainable water management. While it is still a much smaller market than the green bond market, blue bonds are advancing, driven by innovative financial instruments. A snapshot of the blue ...

The book The Mandibles is a speculative fiction novel by Lionel Shriver that presents a dystopian vision of America in the mid-21st century, following a major economic collapse. Although the book was first published in 2016, I only read it a couple of years later after a friend recommended it to me. Given what is happening in Los Angeles today, the book came back to mind, the p ...

This week, the ECB published an interesting report on the international role of the euro. The main finding was that the role of the euro has remained fairly stable in the international monetary system over the past few years, especially in international payments and in the issuance of foreign loans and debt. The report also highlights the rise of the Renminbi in global trade fi ...

Over the past two weeks, neither the economic data flow nor financial markets have offered your economist much respite. The S&P 500 has managed to recover most of its earlier 2025 losses (in USD terms), yet this rebound has not been accompanied by a corresponding recovery in corporate earnings expectations. As a result, valuations for U.S. equities have rebounded quickly, p ...