The May edition of the OMFIF Bulletin, with articles by 11 Advisory Board members, pays ample regard to the three-speed pace of the world economy. Europe is stuck in recession, the US is picking up speed but still beset by doubts, and the emerging market economies are registering a reduced but steady performance. Pride of place goes to a wide-ranging interview with James Bullard by our US editor Darrell Delamaide in which a self-confident St. Louis Federal Reserve president spans a wide selection of topics from the US economy and the leadership style of Fed chairman Ben Bernanke through to Europe and China.
In addition, Delamaide gives us his usual monthly summary of Fed developments, where many US economy watchers now join Bullard in believing that quantitative easing is now less likely to taper off. Gabriel Stein analyses continuing credit easing by the world’s leading central banks.
Despite the slowdown in China, Asia is still showing considerable signs of life. Hon Cheung surveys how countries across the continent are trying to overcome fragmentation of financial markets. Trevor Greetham dwells on the hitherto positive results of Abenomics in Japan.