Martin Fowler

Profile

 Articles by this Author

Our latest Economic & Market Outlook  sets out our views on the state of the global economy and the prospects for financial markets.
In our Economic & Market Outlook dated 5 July 2010, we noted that leading indicators had begun to deteriorate sharply in the United States, the implication being that the US economy may well be heading back into recession. As the US is still the world’s largest economy, it remains of global importance. Economic data released since the end of June has only added to our concerns and we would have to say, failing any further stimulus, that the odds of a US recession have increased significantly.

European Sovereign Debt Crisis

In our Autumn Newsletter titled “The Sovereign Debt Debacle – Phase 2 of the GFC?” we detailed the extent of the sovereign debt problems and the potential ramifications for investment markets. In this update we take a more detailed look at the Eurozone’s problems and discuss the implications for sharemarkets.

Resources Tax and your portfolio

Conceptually at least, the proposed Resource Super Profits Tax (RSPT) is designed to be a tax on economic rents (economic rent is another word for abnormal or super profits). Economic rent from resource exploration, development and extraction can be defined as the excess of revenue over costs where costs are defined to include a ‘normal’ rate of return on capital.
It is often said that the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) was caused by defaults on sub prime loans in the United States. Such defaults were merely symptoms of the underlying problem, rather than the cause, which of course was the over accumulation of debt by both businesses and consumers alike. Although investment markets have since seen significant appreciation since March 2009, it is now perhaps timely to review what, if any, improvements have really been made in the battle against the pernicious debt burden.
It is hard to believe that only 12 months ago the world was literally on the cusp of what literally could have been the second Great Depression.