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The blog in 2008

The blog is now 18 months old. It has a truly global readership, and as shown in the above map, is now read in 1244 cities and 89 countries. Its aim has always been to identify 'the influences that may shape the chemical industry over the next 12 - 18 months', and to 'develop useful insights...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 01-03-2009
The impact of banking crises

The blog has been searching the websites of the major central banks, such as the IMF, World Bank, Federal Reserve and Bank of England, for research on the history of credit crises. Several readers, including Paul Noble of Parsons Brinckerhoff, have also kindly forwarded helpful studies. The most comprehensive...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 12-28-2008
Lesson from Japan

Japan went through its "bubble years" in the 1980's, with the Nikkei index peaking at 39000 (versus 8664 today). The blog well remembers standing in front of Tokyo's Imperial Palace in Tokyo in 1988, when its land was said to be worth more than all of California. Since then, housing...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 12-15-2008
A "V-", "U-", "W-" or "L-shaped" recession?

There is now general agreement that we are in a global recession. The World Bank's new 'Global Economic Prospects' report forecasts global GDP growth of 2.5% in 2008, and just 0.9% next year. This is well below the 3% level that signals recession. And the Bank also forecasts that world trade...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 12-14-2008
"Markets braced for big European rate cuts"

Sometimes a headline says it all. Today's in the Financial Times, "Markets braced for big European rate cuts", showed just how far we have travelled since the first signs of global financial crisis in August last year. Then, a co-ordinated round of interest rate cuts would have sent stock...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 12-04-2008
China focuses on domestic growth

In September, the blog wondered whether "China's interest in remaining the manufacturing capital of the world may be starting to wane". Yesterday , Lou Jiwei, the chairman of China's sovereign wealth fund (China Investment Corporation) confirmed the new focus on domestic growth. He...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 12-03-2008
US equities and crude oil follow each other

An interesting note from PetroMatrix highlights the close linkage that has now developed between changes in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and WTI crude oil prices. The chart, showing market action on Thursday, makes the point very clearly. PetroMatrix's analysis suggests that "the correlation...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 11-18-2008
A low-key G-20 meeting

The first-ever G-20 meeting of Heads of State was a relatively quiet event , without the presence of President-elect Obama. Two main areas seem to have been discussed : • Regulatory reform, where finance ministers have been given until the end of March to work out new rules for the world's financial...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 11-18-2008
Survival tips for CFOs

The Financial Times series on surviving the downturn focuses this week on CFOs . It includes advice from Feike Sijbesma, CEO of DSM, who suggests that "you need to see how creditable your debtors are, very quickly", and advises that "maintaining a good relationship with your creditors...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 11-14-2008
Russia's economy stalls

A few months ago, Russia's economy seemed to be recovering from its problems in the late 1990's. High prices meant oil revenues were increasing, and the currency was strong. Now, the combination of the oil price collapse and the credit crunch has reversed the position. Yesterday , the central...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 11-12-2008

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