Category: finance
The IMF and the international financial institutions are preparing reforms of the international monetary system, which must also take into account the double injunction of efficiency (thus of modernity and openness to the world) and of acceptability (thus respect for sovereignty). We have already drawn our readers’ attention to Christine Lagarde’s very important speech last […]
Reports are currently proliferating concerning the health of the European banking sector ten years after its great crisis.[1] However, on the one hand, the European banks only managed to get out of it with public funds;[2] on the other, some behemoths are still seen as ticking time bombs[3] (Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank,[4] Monte Paschi[5]…). Finally, the […]
The momentum for change is simply breath-taking, as we shall see in this next issue of the GEAB: the invention of new financing systems, the restructuring of the digital world, new phases in the artificialisation of the land, the establishing of the exit from the oil era… The strongest players in the world system, those […]
Since the 2014 Newport Summit, NATO has been proud to have obtained from member states a reaffirmation of the famous principle of 2% of GDP allocated to military spending.[1] But the reality is darker. Figure 1 – GDP share allocated to military spending, by country, 2014 and 2018. Source: CNBC. Even though Trump or […]
Investing in silver is not something that all retail investors will immediately consider. The reasons often given for holding back are the high volatility together with some uncertainty as to which investment model one should follow. Is silver a commodity (often projected to fall in price during economic slow-downs) or a currency more akin to […]
Bullion and Jewellery For centuries, gold coins and jewellery have been used as small-scale private investments and, for many people today, they remain a good place to start. It must be noted that new purchases may be subject to VAT and both purchases will carry a considerable mark-up on the daily spot gold price. However, […]
In terms of trust, gold has a unique profile: it is the only ore that is generally believed to be precious enough to maintain its value over time. Unlike diamonds, for example, it is impossible to make fake gold. Admittedly, the intrinsic value of gold is essentially symbolic, if we think about it; not much […]
There has been much talk in recent years concerning the perceived move towards a cashless society – an increasing tendency to remove physical cash from general circulation and replace it with more modern, electronic forms of payment. This trend is now being increasingly shown through the difficulty in accessing cash together with a push from […]
Four major issues have put the central banks and tax administrations on alert: The decentralised character of blockchains: Most blockchains work thanks to a global network of stakeholders, including developers, miners, network nodes (with a copy of the registry) and blockchain users. In this context, it is difficult to address an individual entity to require […]
Have you noticed that all the efforts to regulate debt, derivatives, banks etc., made following the subprime crisis and meeting with varying degrees of success over the last ten years, are currently systematically undermined, including by the most serious players in the financial system? Here are some examples: On the public debt side, the United […]
Everyone agrees that, as announced by the International Energy Agency and OPEC, the next peak oil will be around 2025 (2030 for McKinsey), all sectors of production included, whether conventional or unconventional. After that, the supply will fall or collapse, according to forecasters, in spite of population growth (though we will see later that such […]
The future is this web made of all the threads humans weave between themselves and tomorrow. In the work GEAB teams have undertaken to understand the ‘web’ of the future, it is very important to identify the anticipations, projects and strategies that seem most relevant and effective. As you know, we are particularly keen to […]
For most of recorded history, gold has been the central sign and store of wealth and the more abundant silver has been the coinage of the people. This continued as the basis for sound money right up until the start of the 20th century. Gold bullion was held as bars by national banks and silver […]
A reminder that our recommendations are not for speculative purposes, therefore short-term, that they don’t aim to win more, but rather to lose less (even nothing) because in the case of a global systemic crisis like the one we are currently seeing, it’s the only rational objective. – Gold-Cryptor: patience! – Cryptocurrencies: a blank year […]
Have you noticed that all the efforts to regulate debt, derivatives, banks etc., made following the subprime crisis and meeting with varying degrees of success over the last ten years, are currently systematically undermined, including by the most serious players in the financial system? Here are some examples: On the public debt side, the United […]
In 2014, in the context of the partly energy-motivated Ukrainian crisis, European citizens became aware that 63 years after the signing of the ECSC Treaty (which, forming the basis of a coal and steel union, was the starting point for the European project) there was no Energy Union in Europe. The price of Russian gas, […]
Of course, there is this temptation of reverting to national or regional levels. However, there is also the Internet that connects the world lastingly. As a matter of fact globalized human society is trying to find solutions between maintaining open participation in the world, refocusing on regions of economic activity, reinventing national added value, and […]
The gradual disappearance of the previous world order’s straitjackets of stability (international organisations, treaties, alliances, various regulations…) is becoming alarming. Will this alarm act as a spur or will it turn out to be a bad counsellor? With the US-Russian exit from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), uncertainties surrounding US-China trade negotiations, the new […]