Hello. I’m Burnham Banks and I studied economics in the late 80s and early 90s. I’m still studying economics today and am still no wiser. This blog is a journal, a record of my thoughts and experiences. If we are destined to repeat our mistakes, we should at least repeat them faithfully. If not, then perhaps the past is a mischievous guide and we should try something new.

Inequality

Inequality has reached acutely high levels. There are costs. The most fundamental impact of inequality as it reaches this level of wealth concentration, (over 40% of the world’s wealth is owned by the top 1% of the population and over 80% of the world’s wealth is owned by the top 10% of the population), is
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Recession yes, but not from the Inverted Yield Curve

I don’t know how yield curves get inverted but when they do, recessions tend to follow after. Why? Banks borrow short term and lend longer term and an inverted curve means that the bank credit market fails to clear. It results in a credit shortage which chokes off growth. We will still get our recession,
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China US Trade War, Trade – War

I have argued since 2013 that the world had been in a trade war since at least 2009, perhaps 2007. This war was fought at various times in the FX theatre and through the re-shoring of manufacturing. Re-shoring represented a reorganization of global supply chains to locate them in the countries of the parent companies.
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A Very Simplified Market Outlook 2019 2H

Economic outlook Growth is slowing. After ten years of expansion, it is to be expected that the global economy should slow down. The slowdown is very tangible in Europe, is evident in China and rest of Asia, and in the US is showing early but significant signs. The Trade War is a drag on growth.
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Speciation and Extinction. Human Influence on Biodiversity.

The history of our planet is replete with extinctions. As our planet’s environment and conditions evolve, and as the various species which live upon it evolve, speciation and extinctions occur. At the point of writing there are an estimated 8.7 million different types of life forms of which animals number between 1 to 2 million
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