Women are their own enemies
One of the things I observe with many women I work with is that they tend to be more reluctant to self-promote.
Finance
Klement on Investing.
Thoughts on financial markets by Joachim Klement.
Recent essays
30 of 124Demographics is not destiny – election edition
Next week Tuesday, Americans will go to the polls to determine who controls Congress for the next two years.
The one-eyed among the blind
Long-term bond yields have increased substantially since 2025 and there is increasing concern that these rising long-term bond yields may reflect fears about the solvency of countries like the US, Japan and others.
Gold reserves and exchange rate management
Gold bugs sometimes claim that central banks should own more gold as part of their reserve holdings.
The decline of German manufacturing
The second China shock is top of the agenda among European manufacturing businesses and in political circles.
Nice earnings forecasts you have. Shame if something happened to them
Greetings from Asia where I currently am on a business trip.
Building DACCS the right way
Direct Air Carbon Capture and Storage (DACCS), the technology to remove CO2 from the air and store it underground, is a controversial technology, mostly because it is unclear if it ever works at reasonable cost and scale.
The civil service may save us all
I am not a fan of civil servants, but in the current political climate, they may end up as our saving grace.
Europe’s fragmentation impacts research
Europe is famously fragmented.
Career risk trumps investment risk
As someone who has worked most of his career on the buy side, I know that career risk is real and overrides many investment considerations.
How much growth do higher taxes cost?
In a week, we will get a new budget here in the UK, and of course, everybody is wondering which taxes are going to be hiked and by how much.
Data centres boost the energy transition
The data centre boom has triggered an acceleration in the buildout of new power plants.
Worse than Schadenfreude
By now, the world is familiar with the German word ‘Schadenfreude’, the joy at the misfortune of others.
The impact of bubbles on lifetime earnings
If you recently switched careers to join the booming marketplace for AI jobs and profit from the higher salaries or greater upside on offer there, I have bad news for you.
AI cannot pick stocks
Yesterday, I wrote a bit about the hopes for productivity gains from AI.
From AI productivity to lower debt?
Sometimes, you come across a brief note that basically says all there is to say about a topic.
The impact of emissions trading schemes on trade
In 2026, the EU is rolling out its Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).
Trade means wealth: Antiquity edition
Regular readers will know that I am a passionate free trader.
Government debt changes the impact of monetary policy
To fight inflation, the ECB and other central banks hiked interest rates.
Can AI labs ever turn a profit?
Anthropic is about to IPO and I collect a lot of different data points in my latest Reuters column to asses if they can ever become profitable.
How prepared is Europe for war?
Let’s face it, it is increasingly likely that at some point in the future, Russia will test Europe’s resolve in defending itself against the threat of Russian invasion.
Nationalisations don’t work
It is well-known that nationalising businesses or entire industries does not work.
Who is the best manager?
The selection of management talent is one of the most critical tasks in a company.
You can smoke this study
Friday posts are about the weird and wonderful side of econ research and the studies that are so clearly wrong that you wonder how anyone ever thought it would be a good idea to post them online.
Flippin’ heck
Agentic workflows are increasingly used in investment applications.
Corporate taxes and creative destruction
There aren’t many good things that happen in a recession or a crisis, but Schumpeterian creative destruction is one of them.
Index funds make active managers worse
‘Blame it on the index funds’ is a popular game when it comes to analysing market concentration and the extreme valuations of US megacaps.
Companies are already feeling the pain
Climate change is here.
The economics of being an artist
Some artists are uber-rich; most are not.
AI could help governments cut debt — but unevenly
My latest opinion piece for Reuters is out this morning.