“The risk of over-tightening by the European Central Bank is nothing less than catastrophic” says Prof Kenneth Rogoff .
At Davos he also said: “Italy is extremely vulnerable. But this could pop anywhere. Global debt has gone up massively since the pandemic: public debt, corporate debt, everything.”
Rogoff believes that it is a miracle that the world averted a financial crisis in 2022, but the odds of a major accident are shortening as the delayed effects of past tightening feed through.
As Rogoff said: “We were very fortunate that we didn’t have a global systemic event in 2022, and we can count our blessings for that, but rates are still going higher and the risk keeps rising.”
But lurking in the murkiness is also the global financial assets/liabilities which is almost $500 trillion including the shadow banking system at 46% of the total. The shadow banking sector includes pension funds, hedge funds and other financial institutions which are largely unregulated.....More Below
https://goldswitzerland.com/as-west-debt-stocks-implode-east-gold-oil-will-explode/
The US military is facing a "historic challenge" as it attempts to counter Iran’s vast arsenal of “low-cost” drones and ballistic missiles, says a new report.
Nearly two weeks into the US aggression against the Islamic Republic, Tehran has managed to significantly strain American military inventories, Bloomberg reported, citing military experts and Pentagon officials.
The American publication wrote that US forces have been forced to dig deep into inventories of expensive, hard-to-replace interceptors to counter the Iranian barrage.
It stated that the US and its Persian Gulf allies have fired over 1,000 Patriot PAC-3 interceptors—nearly double the annual production capacity of these weapons.
“The United States led the long-range precision strike revolution, and this is the first war where we’re seeing the adversary have that kind of capability,” Bloomberg quoted Kelly Grieco, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center.
“It’s putting stress on the system that we haven’t seen before,” Grieco ...
The financial fallout from the US-Israeli war of aggression on Iran is sending ripples through the global economy, with experts warning of significant price hikes.
Reports published early on Monday brought a stark wake-up call for British markets. The FTSE 100 plummeted by nearly 200 points, a drop of roughly 2%. This downturn was mirrored across Europe, with Germany's DAX index suffering a 2.3% loss.
Esteemed economist Philippe Aghion said the conflict is projected to dampen worldwide economic expansion.
Aghion told RTL radio that a protracted conflict could usher in a period reminiscent of the 1973 oil crisis.
The Nobel laureate outlined a scenario where the fighting drags on for weeks, driving oil prices beyond $150 per barrel and triggering rampant inflation. Such a situation, he noted, would necessitate a unified economic response from Western nations, including the United States and Europe.
“An extended and broadening conflict will undoubtedly hinder global expansion,” Aghion ...
