Economics & Convergence Archives

Economics & Convergence

EUREP Goes Global: The ECB’s Quiet Lender of Last Resort

The European Central Bank has begun onboarding non-euro-area central banks to its enhanced EUREP repo facility. For the first time, the non-euro world has a standing euro liquidity backstop. Currencies internationalise through exactly this kind of quiet lender-of-last-resort plumbing, and

Buying Credibility: The Hiking Cycle That Keeps Indonesia’s Convergence Funded

Three increases since May, 100 basis points in all, one of them off-cycle. Bank Indonesia has charged domestic borrowers a visible price to keep real yields attractive, portfolio money flowing and Indonesia’s long convergence run financed. July’s surprise hold now

The Hidden Titan: Why the American Rail Network is the Unsung Engine of Global Commerce

While attention often centres on congested highways and crowded airspace, a quieter system underpins the movement of goods across the United States. The country’s freight rail network, largely out of public view, remains one of the most efficient and high-capacity

Governance as Capital Protection: How UOB’s Board Architecture Reinforces Resilience in Singapore’s Banking System

For a systemically important bank, governance is not a compliance layer. It is a capital-protection system that determines how risk is contained, how incentives are shaped, and how confidence is preserved among depositors, investors, and regulators. UOB’s board architecture offers

‘Sanaenomics’: The Abenomics 2.0 Shift from Deflation to Security

The economic platform of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, quickly dubbed ‘Sanaenomics’, is not a radical break but a clear continuation and evolution of the policies pioneered by her mentor, Shinzō Abe. Where Abenomics was primarily an aggressive strategy to combat

The Janus-Faced Banker: Hjalmar Schacht and the Tragedy of German Economics

Hjalmar Schacht, a brilliant economist who rescued Germany from hyperinflation, ultimately became an enabler of Nazi atrocities. This profile explores the complexities of his legacy, examining his undeniable brilliance alongside his deeply troubling complicity with evil. Hjalmar Schacht is one

Otaviano Canuto: The Global War of Subsidies

US bids to limit tech imports and exports send a message of frustration and fear. Prior to her visit to China on April 4 — her second in nine months — Janet Yellen, US Secretary of the Treasury, sent a

Dollar Strains — Our Currency, Your Problem: Specialised Investment Research and Analysis from PGM Global Inc.

Unlike their DM counterparts, EM central banks have started to cut rates, in some cases aggressively, to offset weakening growth amid high inflation. The rate cuts and the weaker global growth outlook have hurt EM equities and local currency bonds.

Otaviano Canuto: Some Economies May Soon Face a Hard Landing

Weaker performance of emerging markets is expected in the immediate future. This year began with simultaneous signs of a slowdown in global economic growth and a reorientation toward tightening of monetary policies in advanced economies. In its latest Global Economic

Global Imbalances and the Pandemic

The International Monetary Fund’s tenth annual External Sector Report (ESR, August 2021) shows how current account deficits in the global economy widened in 2020 during the pandemic. On the other hand, the ESR also argues that overall, the misalignment between