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Showing 111 - 120 of 2991 results for Benjamin Ong

Chief economist update: Amber alert

BENJAMIN ONG  |  WEDNESDAY, 17 FEB 2021
If there's one thing that matches (well, nearly) the exponential rate of infection from the coronavirus, it's the vertigo-inducing rally on Wall Street. After dropping to three-year lows in March last year, US equities have rocketed higher and ...

Chief economist update: Red metal turning red hot

BENJAMIN ONG  |  TUESDAY, 16 FEB 2021
The latest GDP growth updates show that the world's major economies remain in contraction (in year-on-year terms) at the end of 2020 and despite the roll-out of vaccines, the COVID-19 pandemic (and now its variants) remain with us, triggering stop-and-go ...

To keep or not to keep JobKeeper

BENJAMIN ONG  |  MONDAY, 15 FEB 2021
"Never ask a barber if you need a haircut," Warren Buffett once famously advised. The barber's nod will invariably be met with opposition from shampoo manufacturers. Such is the divide between the Morrison government (the barber) and labour unions ...

Chief economist update: Light at the end of the Euro tunnel

BENJAMIN ONG  |  FRIDAY, 12 FEB 2021
It's beginning to look a lot like the Eurozone economy wouldn't be able to dodge a double-dip recession given tighter and/or extended coronavirus restrictions and lockdowns remain in place in many of its member countries. Eurozone GDP fell into ...

Chief economist update: Money plus confidence

BENJAMIN ONG  |  THURSDAY, 11 FEB 2021
"The circulation of confidence is better than the circulation of money." - James Madison, 4th President of the USA (1809-1817) and Founding Father The Morrison government circulating more money which, according to the Budget Papers 2020-21, amounts ...

Chief economist update: Nikkei not so fine

BENJAMIN ONG  |  TUESDAY, 9 FEB 2021
"Oh Nikkei, you're so fine You're so fine you blow my mind, hey Nikkei..." My apologies to Toni Basil for re-wording the lyrics to her 1981 hit "Mickey", but anyone watching the rise and rise of the Nikkei-225 index will understand. The Japanese ...

Chief economist update: The US inflation dilemma

BENJAMIN ONG  |  TUESDAY, 9 FEB 2021
"Anything worth doing is worth overdoing. Moderation is for cowards." - Shane Patton Did current US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen (under Biden's administration) just call former US Secretary Lawrence Summers (under Clinton's) a coward? I refer of ...

Chief economist update: Disappointing jobs results raise Biden's stimulus bid

BENJAMIN ONG  |  MONDAY, 8 FEB 2021
Talk about perfect timing. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) disappointing update on the state of employment in America couldn't have come at a more opportune time - the time when fresh president of the US, Joe Biden, is bidding the Congress ...

Chief economist update: NIRP embedded in BOE forecasts

BENJAMIN ONG  |  FRIDAY, 5 FEB 2021
The Bank of England (BOE) gave financial markets what they wanted and kept monetary policy settings unchanged - the bank rate at a record low 0.1% and QE at £895 billion - at its first Monetary Policy Committee meeting on February 4. It was hoping ...

Chief economist update: Oil gush

BENJAMIN ONG  |  THURSDAY, 4 FEB 2021
Crude oil prices jumped to one-year highs - WTI oil to US$58.46 per barrel; Brent oil to US$55.73 - this early in the New Year. Well, they have to bounce some time especially given the battering it received in 2020 as the covid-19 pandemic grounded ...