Clark Center Forum

There is a well-rehearsed choreography to Yen interventions. It usually starts with ‘sources close to the Ministry of Finance’ letting it be known that they are unhappy with the current level of the Yen, or at least displeased, with the sharpness of recent moves. That is sometimes enough to persuade investors to back away. If […] 

 

A couple of weeks ago, this column reported on a Finance Experts Panel poll on the Fed’s new communications strategy. Or, as it might be termed, anti-communications strategy. Kevin Warsh, the new Chair, has taken a radically different approach to his most recent three predecessors. As that column explained, ‘he worries that forward guidance means […] 

This US survey examines (a) A substantial increase in defense spending largely funded by government borrowing would deliver a measurable boost to economic growth over the next five years; (b) Increasing public investment in defense R&D would generate substantial technological spillovers and productivity gains in addition to the boost to national military capabilities; (c) The market power of defense suppliers substantially raises procurement costs without adding to military capabilities 

This European survey examines (a) A substantial increase in defense spending largely funded by government borrowing would deliver a measurable boost to economic growth over the next five years; (b) Increasing public investment in defense R&D would generate substantial technological spillovers and productivity gains in addition to the boost to national military capabilities; (c) The market power of defense suppliers substantially raises procurement costs without adding to military capabilities. 

This Finance survey examines (a) Aggressive use of tax alpha investment strategies that use long-short strategies to enhance loss realization, as well as accounting treatments that allow generation of losses that can offset ordinary income, offers substantial additional returns for high net worth investors over a ten-year horizon; (b) Aggressive use of tax alpha investment strategies that use long-short strategies to enhance loss realization, as well as accounting treatments that allow generation of losses that can offset ordinary income, is leading to substantial reductions in government revenue from high net worth investors 

The Fed has a larger balance sheet than was once the case. Dramatically so, as the chart below makes clear. This is a result of a series of policy decisions made over the last two decades; namely three rounds of quantitative easing (QE) carried out between 2008 and 2014; and then an additional period of […] 

The Fed has a new chair and, it would seem, one with a very different approach to his predecessors. While much of the attention has, understandably, been focused on the traditional question of how hawkish or dovish Kevin Warsh will be on rates, there are deeper issues at play. In (at least) a couple of […] 

To mark the tenth anniversary of the United Kingdom voting to leave the European Union, the Clark Center’s US and European Economic Experts Panels recently looked – once again – at the vexed issue of Brexit. Brexit is one of those issues which has the potential, at least in the UK, to provoke a fierce […] 

This European survey examines (a) Ten years after the Brexit referendum, the UK has experienced substantially lower growth than it would have done had it remained in the European Union; (b) The UK would be substantially richer ten years from now if it immediately began negotiations and domestic preparations with the aim of fully rejoining the European Union