Comparing symptoms
Can lower interest rates prevent the spread of debt-deflation to America and Europe?
STOCKMARKETS rose in expectation of the Federal Reserve's half-point cut in interest rates on November 6th to 1.25%, the lowest rate for more than 40 years. The following day, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England decided not to cut their rates, but they are still expected to ease next month. However, investors' exuberance is odd, for interest rates are coming down because the world economy is in worse shape than had been hoped.
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Comparing symptoms”
From the November 9th 2002 edition
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The great-man theory of Wall Street
Why finance is still dominated by bold individuals
Hong Kong’s property slump may be terminal
Demographics and geopolitics will make a recovery harder
Why everyone wants to lend to weak companies
An unanticipated side-effect of Donald Trump’s election victory
American veterans now receive absurdly generous benefits
An enormous rise in disability payments may complicate debt-reduction efforts
Why Black Friday sales grow more annoying every year
Nobody is to blame. Everyone suffers
Trump wastes no time in reigniting trade wars
Canada and Mexico look likely to suffer