Bi-Weekly Geopolitical Report
Weekly Geopolitical Report – The Geopolitics of Taiwan: Part I (May 3, 2021)
by Bill O’Grady | PDF Tensions over Taiwan have been steadily escalating in recent years. When President Trump was elected in 2016, one of the first official contacts he made was with President Tsai Ing-wen, the leader of Taiwan. Accepting this call infuriated Beijing, which views Taiwan as a province of the People’s Republic of… Read More »
Weekly Geopolitical Report – Irish Border Revisited (April 26, 2021)
by Thomas Wash | PDF It has been more than a year since the U.K. and European Union (EU) came to terms with the Withdrawal Agreement, yet questions remain on how it will impact Northern Ireland, which was granted an exception to remain in the EU. Having decisively voted 56% to 44% to remain a… Read More »
Weekly Geopolitical Report – What Population Aging Means for Global Inflation and Growth (April 19, 2021)
by Patrick Fearon-Hernandez, CFA | PDF One key worry for investors these days is whether fiscal stimulus, loose monetary policy, and accelerating economic growth will spark runaway inflation. That concern has been a major factor in driving down fixed income prices and boosting bond yields since the start of the year. However, we’ve been arguing… Read More »
Weekly Geopolitical Report – The Geopolitics of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC): Part IV (April 12, 2021)
by Bill O’Grady | PDF This week, we conclude our series on CBDC with market ramifications. Ramifications Money is a seminal good. As our metaphysical discussion examined, economics has tended to avoid forays into the being of money.[1] Accordingly, for the past 150 years, there have been steady changes to the use of money, from… Read More »
Weekly Geopolitical Report – The Geopolitics of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC): Part III (March 29, 2021)
by Bill O’Grady | PDF (Due to the Easter holiday, the next report will be published on April 12.) This week, we continue our series with an examination of the geopolitics of CBDC. The Geopolitics As we noted in Part I, there has been strong interest among the central banks to introduce digital currencies. We… Read More »
Weekly Geopolitical Report – The Geopolitics of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC): Part II (March 22, 2021)
by Bill O’Grady | PDF In Part I, we discussed the metaphysics of money. This week, we will examine the current structure of money and the potentially complicated impact of CBDC. The Current Structure Here is a Venn diagram of the current structure of money in most developed markets. First, there are two forms of… Read More »
Weekly Geopolitical Report – The Geopolitics of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC): Part I (March 15, 2021)
by Bill O’Grady | PDF There has been a surge in interest in digital currencies among the world’s central banks. The triggering event was probably Facebook’s (FB, USD, 264.28) unveiling of the LIBRA project in June 2019. Digital currencies of various stripes have been around for some time; bitcoin (BTR, USD, 49,989.80), introduced in 2009,… Read More »
Weekly Geopolitical Report – The Western Sahara: Part II (March 8, 2021)
by Thomas Wash | PDF In Part I of this report, we examined the U.S. decision last December to recognize Morocco’s sovereignty over the Western Sahara territory, which was part of an agreement in which Morocco formally recognized Israel. This week, in Part II, we focus on why Morocco wanted recognition of its sovereignty over… Read More »
Weekly Geopolitical Report – The Western Sahara: Part I (March 1, 2021)
by Thomas Wash | PDF To facilitate a restoration of diplomatic relations between Morocco and Israel, the Trump administration acknowledged Morocco’s sovereignty over the Western Sahara territory on December 10, reversing the three-decade U.S. policy of supporting self-determination for the Sahrawi People who make up most of the region’s population. The reconciliation between Morocco and… Read More »