Gillian Tett

There are fears that AI will undermine the business model of software companies backed by private credit.
PERSPECTIVE

Should investors worry about a 2008-style shock?

From Iran to private credit, things are unnerving but the wider financial system is better prepared

If the US tech bubble implodes, the pain will spread beyond America.
THE BROAD VIEW

Reasons to worry about America’s investment position with the rest of the world

Data shows that our global financial system is plagued with serious but often ignored imbalances

The price of silver hit US$63.86 per ounce on Dec 10, nearly double its level a year ago, after the Fed trimmed rates by 25 basis points.
THE BROAD VIEW

Is silver the new gold?

The surge in the precious metal’s price could have ominous implications for the markets

US President Donald Trump (right) on Nov 20 announced that "certain agricultural imports from Brazil should no longer be subject to the additional (40% surcharge)", handing Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva a win.
PERSPECTIVE

Brazil offers lesson in winning the ‘Taco’ trade

Global politicians need to understand that White House policy is driven by melodrama and instinct

DeepSeek showed that there are ways to build cheaper, scaled-down variants of AI, raising the prospect that LLMs will become commoditised.

Behind the AI bubble, another tech revolution could be brewing

Today’s eye-popping valuations are based on the assumption that large language models are the only game in town

Since China now dominates green energy production, Trump is perhaps hitting back by trying to crush that boom and force regions such as Europe to buy US fossil fuels instead.
PERSPECTIVE

Trump’s climate tirade will not stop the new ESG

The US president’s assault on the green energy ‘scam’ is part of the struggle with China for global economic hegemony

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in a long essay published by International Economy, chastised the Fed for allegedly muddying its mission, becoming politicised by how it has engaged in financial regulation and deployed quantitative easing.
THE BROAD VIEW

Interest rates are a sideshow in the battle over the Fed’s future

Trump and his economic advisers want to narrow the central bank’s mission dramatically

Trump (right) hosting tech leaders including Meta's Mark Zuckerberg at the White House on Sep 4. The White House has confirmed the existence of a secret “loyalty rating” chart ranking companies and business groups on their support for the president’s “big, beautiful” Budget Bill.
THE BROAD VIEW

The psychology of CEO loyalty to Trump

C-suites are conspicuously silent in the face of the president’s policy surprises

When President Donald Trump indicated this week that he may fire Fed chair Jerome Powell (above), the price of the US dollar and Treasuries gyrated.
PERSPECTIVE

Threats to the Fed go beyond firing Powell

‘Populist authoritarian’ blogger Curtis Yarvin’s ideas are going ever more mainstream in Trump’s Washington – and investors should be worried

Equity prices might be pricing an assumption that tariff threats will be watered down, and bond markets pricing a belief Trump will not actually execute debt-expanding measures and cause investors to spurn Treasuries.
PERSPECTIVE

Trump is sowing confusion in the markets

While the behaviour of bonds suggests a downturn, American stocks are at record highs