Stephen King
Stephen King is HSBC's group chief economist and global head of economics and asset allocation research. During the 1980s he was employed at HM Treasury and now appears regularly on TV and radio to discuss economic matters, and in 2007 became a member of the European Central Bank Shadow Council. His column for The Independent focuses on UK and international economic issues.
Stephen King: Bernanke's blueprint for dealing with the horrors of debt deflation
In late-2002, Ben Bernanke, now the chairman of the Federal Reserve, gave a speech entitled "Deflation: Making Sure 'It' Doesn't Happen Here". Then, Mr Bernanke was merely a Fed Governor and had yet to make his way to the very summit of the central banking profession. Nevertheless, there can be no doubt that the thoughts expressed in that speech are thoughts which, once again, are very relevant.
Recently by Stephen King
Stephen King: If interest rate cuts cannot solve the money shortage, turn on the printing press
Monday, 24 November 2008
As people hoard money, so output weakens and prices fall, as in the 1930s
Stephen King: Another British currency crisis – it's enough to make you feel nostalgic
Monday, 17 November 2008
Stick your head out of the window, inhale deeply, and enjoy the sweet, yet sickly, scent of nostalgia. It's everywhere. On a Saturday night, you can settle down in front of the television to watch the X Factor or Strictly Come Dancing, throwbacks to the days of Opportunity Knocks, New Faces and the BBC's Seaside Special. You can bask in the reflected glory of our summer Olympians who won the most British medals since the 1908 Olympics when the tug o' war was, apparently, taken rather seriously. Or you can look at sterling's sudden collapse and think of the seemingly countless occasions when Britain's economic prospects were undone as a result of a currency crisis.
Stephen King: Creditor nations may be looking to pick up some corporate silverware
Monday, 10 November 2008
In one sense, next Saturday's G20 meeting in Washington comes too early. George Bush is still in the White House, even though he no longer sets America's economic agenda. Barack Obama, the man who will set the agenda, won't really be able to do much of substance until 20 January and, according to reports, has no intention of being anywhere other than Chicago next weekend. Nevertheless, the world's financial system is in crisis. Even if the US administration is impotent, it is better to establish some form of international dialogue. Or we could find ourselves hurtling towards protectionism.
Stephen King: Sometimes the economic beauty contest gets us into an ugly mess
Monday, 27 October 2008
Given Alan Greenspan's dose of the doubts last week, at what level should we trust markets? The strongest defence is, surely, the idea that markets provide the best single way of allocating the world's scarce resources. Unfettered capitalism, on this view, is desirable because it potentially makes all of us better off.
Stephen King: Memo to Gordon... think radical and dump the Bank's inflation target
Monday, 20 October 2008
Whisper it quietly, but it's just possible that the Bank of England's inflation target contains a fatal flaw.
Stephen King: Lessons from the Great Depression of the 1930s have not been learnt
Monday, 13 October 2008
We are living through financial history of the tragic kind. As of Friday's close, America's stock market had declined in value by well over 40 per cent compared with its peak a year ago. Already, this ranks as the fifth biggest stock market decline since the 1920s, beaten only by the 1929 Wall Street Crash (and the ensuing Depression in the early-1930s), the technology collapse of 2000, the crash that occurred after the Yom Kippur War (and quadrupling of oil prices) in 1973 and, finally, the collapse in 1937/38 when war was breaking out all over Europe.
Stephen King: Roosevelt's lesson... a decisive act to break the psychology of depression
Monday, 6 October 2008
What should you do if your banking system doesn't work? Some will doubtless celebrate, arguing that banks are the source of all monetary evil. Others will panic, worrying about the onset of another Great Depression. Policymakers, though, should do neither of these things. They need, instead, to find a way to make the financial system function again.
Stephen King: In Mexico, they've seen it all before. And there are lessons for all of us
Monday, 29 September 2008
On a business trip to Mexico last week, I was talking to some local economists and financial experts. They know a thing or two about financial crises. Mexico, after all, has had more than its fair share of problems over the last 30 years, what with the Latin American debt crisis in the early Eighties and the "Tequila crisis" in the mid-Nineties.
Stephen King: 'Capitalism can be incredibly unstable and state intervention is back, big time'
Monday, 22 September 2008
Phew! That was some week. Lehman Brothers, the American investment bank which opened for business back in the 1840s, has gone. Merrill Lynch has been swallowed up by Bank of America. Manchester United's shirts and AIG are owned by the US government. Lloyds TSB has taken over HBOS. And, on Wednesday and Thursday, it looked like we were on the verge of another Great Depression, with shares in all manner of companies in freefall, and banks the world over on the point of capitulation.
Stephen King: As Madonna and the banks know, when trust is lost it's time to say your prayers
Monday, 15 September 2008
What do a Madonna concert and a banking crisis have in common? Not much, you might think. But, as I sat through an excruciating performance of "Borderline" in Wembley Stadium on Thursday night, I realised that Madonna and mammon go together rather well. The common link is trust (or its loss).
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1 Jeremy Warner: When interest rates reach zero, what does the Bank do then?
2 Carnage on the high street as retailers feel the chill
3 Woolworths to hold 'biggest ever' sale new
4 House prices tumble 1980s-style
5 Car sales accelerate off a cliff
6 530 jobs to go at rail freight company new
7 Jeremy Warner: Savers ignored in the rush to zero interest rates
8 Jeremy Warner: Cynicism of the mortgage plan
9 Biggest investor calls in valuers to assess Woolworths' property
10 Nomura and Credit Suisse to lay off 1,650 staff in London
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Columnist Comments
• Brian Viner: Argh! It's Christmas card time again
If a card is all that’s keeping you in touch, at least use it to say something
• Andreas Whittam Smith: This recession will run and run
The Banks remain terrified, albeit that they set the thing off in the first place
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