The blog remains amazed, and worried, by the inability of many of those reponsible for the global financial system to provide the necesary leadership during the current Crisis. They seemingly failed to grasp in March 2008 that Bear Stearns’ bankruptcy was a clear sign that a major global financial crisis was around the corner. Equally, […]
Chemicals and the Economy
Capital controls could hit chemical companies
CFO’s have a lot to think about currently. Volatility is rising in currency and oil markets. Plus credit risks on previously safe ‘sovereign’ debt markets are also increasing. Today, for example, there are new concerns that investors in Dubai World’s $22bn debt may lose 40% of their investment. Equally, current problems in the eurozone over […]
Germany calls Greece’s problems “tip of the iceberg”
Financial crises take time to mature. Yet until the end is nigh, apologists will insist that nothing needs to change. Thus valuable time is wasted. Last year, Iceland was the obvious example of this problem. Now it is Greece, a eurozone member. Back in January, S&P had downgraded Greece’s bonds, due to debt concerns. And […]
Eurozone under pressure
Early last year, the blog flagged up a warning from Gillian Tett in the Financial Times that Iceland could go bankrupt, as its banks were “too big to rescue”. Yet at the time, the United Nations had listed it as having “the highest standard of living of any country” in the world. Unfortunately, however, Iceland’s […]