The Business Times
business-time-50

Ruchir Sharma

CHAIR OF ROCKEFELLER INTERNATIONAL

Any protracted increase in oil prices is likely to be magnified by the fact that governments are running low on policy ammunition to counter it.

Why this oil shock is different

Governments and central banks are out of policy ammunition to contain the economic fallout

Gold has broken free of the fundamental forces that long explained its ups and downs, says the writer.
THE BOTTOM LINE

Gold enters the storybook stage

Its price is now far above levels suggested by fundamental forces, but it’s hard to see what might stop its ascent

Last year, foreigners poured around US$1.6 trillion into US financial assets, including nearly US$700 billion into stocks – both new records and significantly higher than the levels of recent years.

Bash all day, buy all night

Why foreigners keep pouring money into America

A robotic system supports archaeologists' work in Pompeii, Italy. There are signs that AI is raising output per worker, which could lower overall demand for human labour.
THE BOTTOM LINE

Why people still matter in the AI era

As population decline accelerates, the big risk is labour shortages, not mass unemployment

India experienced record net outflows of US$19 billion in 2025, even as other stock markets in the emerging world saw net inflows.
THE BOTTOM LINE

India needs to import more capital and export fewer workers

Despite strong headline growth numbers, the country is slipping from the global spotlight

While signs point to an advanced-stage bubble in AI, history shows that there is no exact point at which a bubble bursts under its own weight, the writer notes.

The four ‘O’s that shape a bubble

And what this test tells us about the artificial intelligence wave

By sector, more than 20% of these undervalued, high-quality class are industrials, followed by financials and consumer discretionary.
THE BOTTOM LINE

The best time to buy quality stocks is now

It is a generational opportunity in otherwise bubbly markets

Much of the trillions of dollars in stimulus rolled out during and after the pandemic is still sloshing around the system and continues to drive the momentum trade across many assets, including stocks and gold.

Why gold and stocks are partying together

These booms are connected, but not in the way you may have heard

So far in 2025, every major sector from utilities and industrials to healthcare and banks has fared better in the rest of the world than in America. This suggests that if AI does not deliver for the US as anticipated, the country's economy and markets will lose the one leg they are now standing on.
THE BOTTOM LINE

America is now one big bet on AI

Artificial intelligence is seen as the magic fix for every threat to the US economy

It is difficult to spot symptoms of repression among the Chinese shoppers in luxury stores from Shanghai to Paris.

The myth of the suppressed Chinese consumer

In reality, the country has the fastest household spending growth rate of the 21st century

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