Quantitative Easing and the risks of rising wealth inequality

In the face of unprecedented actions to safeguard public health, government-mandated lockdowns have seen global economies in free-fall. In response, central banks have embarked on several innovative monetary and fiscal measures. Official short-term interest rates were cut to record lows in most advanced economies. In some jurisdictions, like in the EU and Japan, rates have …

Capital markets are increasingly unmoored from the real economy

Imbalances in the financial sector or the real economy – the usual trigger for recessions – have been markedly absent from the current global economic downturn. Instead, the cause this time was a government-mandated shutdown of the economy owing to a global health crisis. The end of shutdown will see economic growth resume (as indeed …