Strikes represent a breakdown in the symbiotic relationship between capital and labour. Each party needs each other, but they also have conflicting interest with regards to the surplus of their common endeavour. It is thus not surprising that they sometimes fight about what level and form of pay is acceptable. Normally, this bust-up is, or
As we move into the second quarter of the year, relative calm and complacency is definitely reflected in global investment markets and the wealth management industry in general. MitonOptimal has made large strides across the Group, over recent years, to further build our expertise and capabilities in multi-asset management and discretionary fund management services for financial
The recent interventions by Russia in the Crimean province of Ukraine represent the biggest current threat to the stability of financial markets. Understanding what Vladimir Putin is up to requires a review of the area’s history going back to at least the Second World War. It is also important to understand that a secession of the
2014 is now upon us and already furious debate rages over the “fragile five” and the effects of reduced global liquidity on the emerging markets. In this latest quarterly newsletter, we also evaluate the “New New Normal” and interest rate normalisation effects on the developing world, particularly South Africa. We have our regular International and
In the EU President José Manuel Barroso’s annual state of the union address this week in Strasbourg, he warned that political instability was now the biggest threat to Europe’s fitful recovery from the three-year-old Eurozone crisis. He stated that governments are still at risk of punishment from the financial markets if they veer from the
The city of Detroit very recently decided to default on its municipal bonds. While this still needs to be confirmed by a Federal judge, it was not completely unexpected given the slow but sure decline in the tax base of this once vibrant manufacturing centre of the USA. However, as pointed out by the very
