Economy & Markets
The Fed’s First Hike in Three Years: Why the Dollar and Gold Are Rising Together
TODAY'S NUMBERS: 5.00% (US 10-year Treasury yield, first close above that level since 2023) · 99.5 (Dollar Index, its highest in weeks) · $4,300...
Could Trump’s $5,000 checks complicate Warsh’s Fed strategy?
President Donald Trump’s proposal to give Americans $5,000 payments is raising questions about how the plan could affect U.S. monetary policy, particularly as Federal...
China Tightens Capital Controls the Same Week It Calls the Yuan’s Rise “Irreversible”
TODAY'S NUMBERS: $126.4bn (BRI engagement, H1 2026, a record) · 3.1% (yuan's share of global payments, June 2026) · $50,000 (China's unchanged annual FX...
India Is Building a Third Way for BRICS’ Digital Economy
The 2026 BRICS Summit in New Delhi may be remembered for more than debates over de-dollarization, geopolitical rivalry, and the growing weight of the...
Central Banks Are Buying Gold Like De-Dollarization Is Already Happening — Are They Right?
Central banks' record, price-insensitive gold buying is a more credible signal of the dollar's structural trajectory than this year's currency markets, because FX markets...
Trump’s Silence on Hormuz Is Now a Fed Problem: What Markets Are Pricing In This Week
TODAY'S NUMBERS: $108 (Brent crude) · 4.98% (US 10-year Treasury yield) · $4,330 (Gold) Oil is pricing a wider Gulf war, yields are pricing...
Is China Turning Economic Influence in Africa into Strategic Power?
China can leverage its membership in the BRICS group and its direct investments in Africa as complementary tools to build growing economic influence that...
Do Sanctions Still Work? Russia, Iran and Sudan Say No
On February 1st, the G7's price cap on Russian crude oil quietly reset itself to $44.10 a barrel — down from $47.60, and a...
Russia-Africa Policy Debates
With the heightening of the current geopolitics, many African governments have increasingly welcomed economic, diplomatic, and security ties with Russia. And noticeably, Russia's engagements...
Institutional Money Is Rushing Into America. Central Banks Are Rushing Into Gold. Both Are Reading the Same Signal
TODAY'S NUMBERS:
4.94% (US 10-year Treasury yield, near a three-year high) · 289 tonnes (record Q2 central-bank gold buying) · $53.9bn (Gulf funds' record H1...