The power of increments: small changes over a long time.
This year marks the hundredth anniversary of the Russian Revolution. The communist uprising of 1917 was neither the first nor the last time that the country faced a chance to embrace freedom, yet on each occasion the opportunity has been lost. Are there any grounds to expect genuine change in the future or is the Russian psyche somehow inherently averse to democracy as we know it?
Classic sitcoms Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister popularised the notion that true political power is held not by elected officials but by éminences grises who operate behind the scenes.
Quantitative easing and low interest rates may have helped restore economic stability, but they have failed to deliver meaningful growth. A growing number of economists and policymakers are blaming demographics — we are having too few babies and living too long.
We are hearing increasing calls that ‘Abenomics’ — Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s strategy for economic revival — has failed. We wish to challenge those voices.
Europe has long been seen as the unloved problem child of the developed markets, beset with fiscal problems, threatened with disintegration and unable to escape from chronic underperformance. Now it is the new favourite. But can Europe justify its new-found popularity and higher valuations?
With all the major regions of the global economy growing in synch, investors are shrugging off political uncertainty. Equities have been buoyant, particularly in the US technology sector, where rising valuations are the focus of our lead article “Great tech-spectations”.
A weakened Theresa May will now lead a coalition into a less stable economic future.
Ever since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe came to power in 2012, bringing with him his ambitious “three arrows of reform”, investors have faced the question of when — or whether — to increase their exposure to Japan. Has the moment finally arrived or are there still clouds on the horizon in the Land of the Rising Sun?