Andrew Smithers

Contributor since: 26 Feb 2010

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• Why Balance Sheets are Not in Good Shape

  Published 01 September 2007 | viewed 4,313 times

  Financial Times (Comments page), 30th August 2007 One frequent claim used to calm fears in the recent market turmoil has been that "corporate balance sheets…

• There is Little Value in Broker Economics

  Published 06 January 2006 | viewed 7,697 times

  Originally published in the Financial Times, 4th January 2006. The FT reports regularly on the views of economists and stockbrokers. Readers might be intrigued by…

• The Economic Framework for Flourishing Pensions

  Published 26 July 2005 | viewed 4,964 times

  Talk at Politeia in London. Stating the Issue. The economics of the pension debate seem to me to have been bedevilled by confusion between household…

• A Case of Panic Now, Not Later

  Published 17 September 2004 | viewed 5,269 times

  Stock market returns over the next 10 years or so are set to be very poor. The stock market resembles roulette in several ways. In…

• The Longer You Play, The More You Lose

  Published 20 May 2004 | viewed 3,827 times

  The Sunday Times, 16th May, 2004 Unlike most articles about investment, which tell people how to make money, this one will try to persuade you…

• In Denial. One thing Europe and America have in common.

  Published 26 February 2004 | viewed 3,168 times

  Nikkei Business, 23rd February 2004 The fall of communism has not brought an end to ideological disputes about economics. European and American politicians routinely rubbish…

• Pension Funds and Forecasts of Equity Returns

  Published 16 January 2004 | viewed 7,120 times

  Talk to the City Monetary Group. I am expecting something of a revolution, over the next few years, in the assumptions that are made about…

• Japan: Optimism not Realism

  Published 13 October 2003 | viewed 3,536 times

  Nikkei Kinyu "Market Eye" Column., 26th September 2003 Japan is experiencing a cyclical upturn, which the optimists hope will turn into a sustained recovery. The…

• Exuberance Returns

  Published 07 August 2003 | viewed 2,739 times

  Stock markets rise and fall more than they should on any rational basis. This is usually shown by excessive optimism when times are good and…

• Economic Fashions

  Published 04 June 2003 | viewed 2,550 times

  Fashion, as much as theory, drives economic policy. The public debate is simplistic. Names are given to policies. Keynesians, monetarists and supply-siders are supported like…

• Euro Entry

  Published 20 May 2003 | viewed 2,935 times

  As the prospect of Euro entry recedes, there has been a welcome improvement in the quality of the debate. There is a good case for…

• How Fukui Should Deal With Deflation

  Published 15 May 2003 | viewed 3,021 times

  Central Banking (Quarterly Journal vol XIII no 4 On the 20th March, a new Governor of the Bank of Japan took over. The previous incumbent's…

• Independence For Scotland

  Published 07 May 2003 | viewed 2,819 times

  The most interesting feature of the Scottish elections was the pledge by the Nationalists to cut business taxes. It shows why Scotland and England should…

• The Post Budget Debate

  Published 22 April 2003 | viewed 2,823 times

  Press comment on the budget has been sharply divided. Most writers have been scornful of the Chancellor's economic forecasts, while a few believe that he…

• Poor Imprudent Brown

  Published 15 April 2003 | viewed 2,660 times

  Gordon Brown has got his sums wrong. Next week I expect him to tell us that tax revenue is lower than he expected. But this…

• The Reward For Taking Risk

  Published 26 March 2003 | viewed 2,808 times

  Equities are risky. This is why they give better long-term returns than bonds or cash. This truth was repeatedly and foolishly denied in the bubble…

• The Demographics Of Protectionism

  Published 10 March 2003 | viewed 2,644 times

  The United Nations has just published a new report on the world's population. The threat of a world with standing room only has become less…

• Ben Bernanke and the Risk of Recession

  Published 05 March 2003 | viewed 3,383 times

  The difficulties facing the US economy are largely unrelated to the Middle East. Forecasters are overplaying the effect on confidence of the possible Iraq war.…

• Bad Economic Management

  Published 24 February 2003 | viewed 3,096 times

  One of the most persistent economic fallacies has been the idea that cutting costs is good for an economy. Probably the saddest example of this…

• A Rise in Savings

  Published 13 February 2003 | viewed 2,653 times

  We are everywhere being bombarded with scare stories about ageing populations being unable to afford to retire. The standard solution is higher savings and, notably…