It’s the start of another year and once again politics looms large in the minds of investors. At this point in 2019, it was “hard Brexit” (not to mention the spectre of a Jeremy Corbyn-led Labour government). This year, it’s an escalation in the temperature of the conflict between Iran and the US. In this week's magazine, we look at what the latter could mean for markets and investors (we also look at the political fallout and delve into the workings of Iran’s economy ).
It’s worth remembering that geopolitics often doesn’t have the market impact that people fear. It’s easy to over-react, particularly when headline-writers have an incentive to grab our attention by being as aggressive as possible. Last year’s big concern is a case in point – for all of the hysterical columns that talked about “cliff edges” and imminent recessions, following the election of Boris Johnson last month we no longer need to worry about a Corbyn government and we should be heading for a relatively smooth Brexit (although there’ll be plenty of overhyped ups and downs throughout the process).
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Tips for 2020 and zen investing
-
Revolut launches its first stocks and shares ISA with BlackRock and Vanguard ETFsA year after getting its UK banking licence, Revolut is now launching its first stocks and shares ISA with a suite of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) from BlackRock and Vanguard.
-
What does Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ mean for the US economy?Donald Trump’s budget bill will slash taxes, but is expected to add at least $3 trillion to US national debt
-
How capitalism has been undermined by poor governanceEditor's letter Capitalism’s “ruthless efficiency” has been undermined by poor governance, a lack of competition and central banks’ over-enthusiastic money printing, says Andrew Van Sickle.
-
The biggest change in the last 17 years – the death of the “Greenspan put”Editor's letter Since I joined MoneyWeek 17 years ago, says John Stepek, we’ve seen a global financial crisis, a eurozone sovereign debt crisis , several Chinese growth scares, a global pandemic, and a land war in Europe. But the biggest change is the death of the “Greenspan put”.
-
Things won't just return to normal – that's not how inflation worksEditor's letter You might think that, if inflation is indeed “transitory”, we just need to wait and everything will return to “normal”. But this is a grave misunderstanding of how inflation works, says John Stepek.
-
Car hire and the strangeness of the post-pandemic economyEditor's letter A global shortage of hire cars and unusually high hotel occupancy rates sum up the post-pandemic global economy in a nutshell, says Merryn Somerset Webb, with enhanced demand meeting restricted supply.
-
Everything is getting more expensive – including moneyEditor's letter Investors are about to start feeling rather more pain, says Merryn Somerset Webb – from the rising price of money.
-
We may be heading for recession – and it will be no ordinary recessionEditor's letter Just as the downturn in 2020 was not a typical recession. the next downturn could be very different too, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
-
What companies should be prioritising this decadeEditor's letter In a world beset by uncertainty, companies should be prioritising slack over efficiency, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
-
Inflation could soon start to hurtEditor's letter Inflation is not going away. And with people's wages not keeping up, things are going to start to hurt, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
