Earlier this year inflation was a big worry, now with inflation fading rapidly around the world there is more and more talk of deflation. This note looks at the key issues surrounding deflation, viz: what is it? why it could be a problem? what is driving it? what does it mean for investors? and how [...]

The reality of a global recession became further entrenched in November. Financial market volatility persisted and some of the world’s major economies reported successive quarters of negative growth. Consequently, the IMF revised its world growth estimates down. The US economy contracted in the September quarter with real gross domestic product (GDP) declining 0.1%. US housing [...]

This note reviews the, mostly bleak, events of 2008 for investors and looks at the outlook for 2009. The key points are as follows: – 2008 has seen a major loss of wealth as the US sub-prime mortgage crisis turned into the worst global financial and economic crisis since the Great Depression. – The global [...]