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Making debt disappear

20 January 2021EconomicsCovid-19, modern monetary theory, quantitative easingNick Dunbar

Developed nations face ballooning post-pandemic debt burdens. In a QE world, does that actually matter?

Visualising China’s emerging market lending splurge

16 April 2020EconomicsChina, Covid-19, government bondsNick Dunbar

Emerging market nations may struggle to repay debt in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. And for many the biggest lender is China, as a new visualisation shows.

Argentina’s local debt puzzle

28 January 2020Economics, Municipal FinanceArgentina, Emerging markets, sub-sovereignsNick Dunbar

Sub-sovereign or regional debt is normally viewed as riskier than the sovereign. But default-prone Argentina has pushed this thesis to breaking point.

Giants of the S&P500 and the inequality backlash

20 November 2019Economics, Risk Commentaryinequality, wealthNick Dunbar

The S&P 500 index added $5 trillion of market cap this year, led by its biggest members. The trend is accelerating wealth inequality.

Corporate bonds dance to the central banks’ tune

9 October 2019Economicscorporate bonds, quantitative easingNick Dunbar

This year’s reversal in central bank sentiment has swept through the corporate bond market

Europe’s negative yield explosion

18 July 2019EconomicsECB, quantitative easingNick Dunbar

Amounts of negative-yielding euro debt have surged to record levels in anticipation of further easing. But how effective is the ECB’s strategy?

Turkey’s crisis in six charts

15 August 2018Articles, EconomicsEmerging markets, TurkeyNick Dunbar

Turkey faces an economic crisis as its dispute with the US escalates. We highlight Turkey’s financial vulnerabilities with six charts.

Tracking the frontier markets debt bubble

23 July 2018EconomicsAfrica, Emerging markets, frontier markets, government bondsNick Dunbar

Frontier market sovereigns are splurging on new borrowing just as investors are cooling on the asset class. A Risky Finance visualisation tool identifies the countries you need to watch.

Italy’s populists throw down gauntlet to Draghi

25 May 2018Articles, EconomicsECB, European Central Bank, Italy, quantitative easingNick Dunbar

Italy’s new populist government is on a collision course with the ECB, which is mulling the tapering of QE purchases. But inflation divergence suggests a way out for the central bank.