Spot the bubble!

17 June 2016|

Housing markets are prone to bubbles, when prices soar relative to incomes and then collapse all at once. And housing bubbles, because they tend to be associated with excess bank credit, can be very damaging for the whole economy when they burst. It tends to mean a banking crisis too. There is a bubble inflating in the European housing market: can you see it? Yes, that's right! It's in Germany. Incredibly, that is the emerging concern among German policymakers and

Trump and the markets

10 June 2016|

He has insulted women, Mexicans, journalists, people with disabilities and many more, but Donald Trump continues to bulldoze his way ever closer to the White House. Is there any stopping him? And what does this mean for markets? For all of Trump's progress, there has been very little reaction in financial markets so far. Do they really care? Perhaps not. After all, Hillary Clinton all but wrapped up the Democratic nomination this week and is the favourite to win November's