Saif

The Declaration of Cooperation between OPEC Member Countries and non-OPEC oil-producing countries has turned eight today, 10 December 2024.

Sanjay Malhotra will take over as the Reserve Bank of India's new governor at a tumultuous time for the economy in the face of slowing growth, sticky inflation and a depreciating rupee. Some experts say his appointment could represent a shift towards a more dovish monetary policy and strengthens expectations of rate cuts early next year.

To manage the consequences of unexpected shocks, policymakers need to understand how firms respond to such shocks. This column uses linked, high-frequency survey micro data to analyse the high-dimensional responses of UK firms to the recent energy price shock. It finds that firms adjust along multiple margins, such as passing on costs to prices, building up cash reserves, increasing debt levels, and shifting towards remote working arrangements. As governments consider how to support firms during the ongoing energy crisis, the findings indicate that interventions should target firm size and industry needs.

While conventional wisdom considers research investment and human capital the wellsprings of innovation, a more subtle catalyst has perhaps been overlooked: the quality of institutions, especially at the regional and local level. This column exploits the staggered implementation of government agency reforms in China to examine the impact of institutions on innovation. It finds that the regions which pioneered these reforms have reaped the rewards of reduced bureaucratic friction and enhanced regulatory efficiency, manifesting in marked gains in innovation performance. The dividends of institutional reform are most pronounced in city-regions already endowed with robust innovation infrastructure and intellectual capital.

The recent surge in the price of Bitcoin has reignited debates about a cryptocurrency bubble, many of them based on intuition. This column takes a formal approach to the beliefs underlying both sides of the debate by introducing a model that builds on the classical framework for rational bubbles. If the price of a cryptocurrency can be justified from transactional demand, it may be a sound investment. However, if future investment inflows are needed to explain the price, that indicates a bubble, with payoffs resembling a Ponzi scheme.

Business confidence in the U.K. fell in November to its lowest level since January 2023, fresh data from business advisory and accountancy firm BDO showed Monday.U.K. job vacancies, meanwhile, fell last month at the fastest rate since the start of the pandemic, according to KPMG.It comes as businesses have warned that Labour's "pro-growth" budget would push up inflation and slow hiring.

November US jobs report expected to show hiring rebound, unemployment holding steady at 4.1%.

Nomura Holdings Inc., Japan’s biggest brokerage, dismissed senior trader Takushi Sawada after regulators concluded that he had arranged the manipulative transactions that have tipped the firm into scandal.

Prime Minister Trudeau has promised to increase spending in the autumn economic update to help promote economic growth.