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The battle for the global payments system is under waySome Europeans are looking to the next geoeconomic contestThose in charge of the Eurozone are determined that the battle for technological control over the economy is one that the EU must not lose © Getty Images“It is imperative for the ECB to introduce a digital euro”, said Philip Lane, the European Central Bank’s chief economist, in a recent speech. Earlier last month Paschal Donohoe, president of the Eurogroup of finance ministers, spoke of a “heightened level of urgency” in progressing to a digital currency. Take heed. These remarks show that even as Donald Trump’s tariffs take up most of Europe’s attention, some Europeans are alert to the next geoeconomic front: a US push to shore up its dominance of international payments.They are right to be concerned. Among Trump’s flurry of executive orders is one promoting the worldwide use of privately issued “stablecoins” denominated in US dollars. There is every reason to expect him to put muscle behind it. His administration is stacked with people deeply involved in the payments technology business, such as Elon Musk (who first hit it big with PayPal) and Howard Lutnick (who has ties to stablecoin issuer Tether). These disrupters may not see eye-to-eye with the old governing elite about much, but they agree on the power and profit to be had from retaining US control over global payments.That system is on the cusp of huge change, for both political and technological reasons. The weaponisation of the dollar-based financial system — note how the US has cut off access by adversaries to Swift messaging for bank transfers — has prompted quests for alternatives. Ideas include a currency and payments system run by and for Brics countries. Technologies such as stablecoins offer an instant, cheap and 24/7 alternative to the expensive, slow and cumbersome legacy of correspondent banking.So the fight for domination of the future payments system is on — and the US wants to win. The broader European public may be blissfully unaware. But those in charge of the Eurozone are also determined that this battle for technological control over the economy is one that the EU must not lose. This is the fundamental motivation for the digital euro — a central bank-issued official digital currency that, if done well and fast enough, will rival or outperform the attractiveness of dollar stablecoins.Without it, Europe faces dangers we have known about for some time — since Facebook’s ill-fated 2019 proposal for its “Libra” electronic currency. Even before that, Europe discovered that when Trump placed sanctions on Iran, Europe could not act autonomously because it was so hard to process trade payments without US-exposed banks.The fact is that the Eurozone is already shockingly dependent on American payment mechanisms. Some two-thirds of card payments in the Eurozone are processed by non-European card providers, says the ECB; 13 of the 20 countries using the euro do not have national card-payment systems. In those cases, “when you go to buy milk, it’s either [physical] cash or Visa/Mastercard”, as one European central banker puts it. This dependence is replicated in the rapid spread of mobile apps.If US stablecoins gain widespread usage, the ultimate risk is “digital dollarisation”, where sales platforms encourage buyers and sellers to price, transact and keep balances in such tokens. This undermines a central bank’s control of domestic monetary conditions.All this is ignored by those who belittle the digital euro project as a solution in search of a problem. But the signs are that their ranks are diminishing. So far, the digital euro project is defensive, necessity being the mother of invention, but it is welcome. Also overdue, however, is recognising the positive arguments for the digital euro. One is the simple idea that if a domestic digital payment technology, practically free, can replace fee-charging foreign payments providers, it is tantamount to removing a transaction tax on economic activity in and with the Eurozone.Another is that a digital euro could compete with dollar stablecoins for international business. How to link it up to non-euro currencies is already being looked into by the ECB. But it must go further. The retail model currently being contemplated, with a limit in the low thousands on how much can be held in digital euro wallets (to avoid users abandoning banks), will not serve the business need for smooth payments along cross-border supply chains, for example.But the most important benefit is that a digital infrastructure for automated digital contracts — payment “rails” whose safety is guaranteed by the central bank — creates a whole new tech economy. Compare it to the way that smartphones brought the app economy into being. Beyond autonomy, this is an opportunity for Europe to make up its lag in tech innovation. The time for a digital euro is now.
Tariffs spark US junk bond sell-off as recession risk mountsCorporate credit is ‘the canary in the coal mine’ for a faltering economy, analysts warnThe tariffs announced by Donald Trump this week are set to pile economic pressure on consumers © Getty ImagesDonald Trump’s “liberation day” tariff blitz has sparked the biggest sell-off in the US junk bond market since 2020, signalling growing angst among investors that an economic slowdown will hit corporate America.The premium investors demand to hold speculative-rated corporate debt compared to that offered by US government bonds — a proxy for default risk — has shot up by 1 percentage point to 4.45 percentage points since Wednesday, ICE BofA data shows. That is the biggest rise since coronavirus triggered widespread lockdowns in 2020.The sell-off in corporate bonds since Wednesday, when Trump took US tariffs to their highest level in over a century, highlights investors’ worries that the move will hit economic output and raise unemployment, leaving weaker companies struggling to repay their debts, analysts said.“Credit is obviously a canary in the coal mine,” said Brian Levitt, global market strategist at Invesco. “Credit tends to go first . . . if the economy’s going to roll over, the odds of a recession pick up and then you’re going to see spreads blow out.”On Friday, JPMorgan slashed its US economic forecasts, predicting a contraction of 0.3 per cent in 2025 — down from an earlier growth estimate of 1.3 per cent. It also said the jobless rate would rise to 5.3 per cent, from 4.2 per cent in March.Companies in the household goods, retail and automobile parts sectors are among those hardest hit by the rout in lower-rated debt.The pain was most acute in the weakest pockets of the high-yield market; the average spread on debt rated triple-C and below topped 10 percentage points for the first time in roughly eight months.“The junkiest of the junk stuff [is] underperforming,” said Eric Winograd, chief economist at AllianceBernstein.Lower-rated companies “have weaker credit fundamentals”, said Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo — they are likely to book weaker earnings and find it harder to cover their debt servicing costs.“They simply don’t have the buffer for the shock that is coming,” Slok said. “If the economy is slowing down, [they] will of course be more vulnerable.”Retailers and carmakers with overseas supply chains were among the sectors facing the most pressure, said analysts, who also highlighted energy companies.Brent Olson and Tim Winstone, portfolio managers at Janus Henderson, pointed to a high-yield bond issued last month by online retailer Wayfair, which relies heavily on China and Vietnam for product supply. The yield of the bond, which matures in 2030, has jumped from roughly 8 per cent to about 10 per cent in recent days. Wayfair declined to comment.Another investor highlighted arts and crafts store Michael’s and office supplies company Staples. Low-rated debt issued by both names has come under pressure since Wednesday. JPMorgan analysts noted that an estimated 60 per cent of Michael’s goods originated from China or other countries in south-east Asia which are now facing hefty tariffs.A portfolio manager described a 2029 Saks bond as a “big, liquid, stressed bond” and a “good proxy” for pain points in the market. The department store group’s bond yield moved from less than 17 per cent to more than 19 per cent between Wednesday and Friday.“We got more than a worst-case scenario” from the White House this week, said John McClain, credit portfolio manager at Brandywine Global Investment Management. “You have uncertainty and you have escalation and that is continuing to lead to a wholesale repricing of risk.”
A muy corto, hay que ver cómo reacciona mañana la Bolsa. Si sigue en bajista o rebota y que rebote hay.
Matt Forney@realmattforney.No me importa su falso y gay colapso de la bolsa, boomers. Me encerraron en un apartamento comunista ruinoso por una gripe y me dejaron sin trabajo. Tengo casi 40 años y estoy en el peor mercado laboral en casi un siglo, por culpa de su avaricia y egoísmo.Yo voté por esto.
Estamos ante la provocación controlada de un alud. Lo dicta la Academia. Solo que esta vez, es un alud muy muy feo, que se convertirá en un río de escombros y descenderá a los valles, y bloqueará cursos de agua creando lagos que se pudrirán.
Bueno, que no nos coja a nosotros en España con el pie cambiado.CitarEstamos ante la provocación controlada de un alud. Lo dicta la Academia. Solo que esta vez, es un alud muy muy feo, que se convertirá en un río de escombros y descenderá a los valles, y bloqueará cursos de agua creando lagos que se pudrirán. Por eso mismo opino que el gobierno hará todo lo posible por evitarlo (el alud).Y eso incluye sostener el artefacto contra viento y marea.SAREB RESISTE!!!
Cita de: CHOSEN en Abril 06, 2025, 12:47:34 pmBueno, que no nos coja a nosotros en España con el pie cambiado.CitarEstamos ante la provocación controlada de un alud. Lo dicta la Academia. Solo que esta vez, es un alud muy muy feo, que se convertirá en un río de escombros y descenderá a los valles, y bloqueará cursos de agua creando lagos que se pudrirán. Por eso mismo opino que el gobierno hará todo lo posible por evitarlo (el alud).Y eso incluye sostener el artefacto contra viento y marea.SAREB RESISTE!!!Ni me cabe la menor duda de que los Tapón van a defender el Artefacto como los kamikazes japoneses. La pregunta es si van a poder.Mientras en China, siendo una dictadura pura y dura, ni se cuestionan el acceso asequible a lo esencial, y en EEUU empiezan a darse cuenta de que no pueden quemar a los jóvenes si quieren la famosa reindustrialización, en España iremos por nuestro lado como siempre.Pero no tenemos tan lejano ese 2012 en el que la prensa de aquí hablaba del "denostado ladrillo" y que el Propietariado casi claudica.¿Va a colapsar el ladrillo en España? Sin duda. ¿Pueden los políticos impedirlo? Si no quieren que ardan las calles no ya por falta de trabajo sino por falta de poder vivir -servicios básicos como la sanidad-, no les va a quedar otra. ¿Va a ser con dolor? No tan extremo como en 2008 porque esta vez no hay legiones de albañiles que puedan acabar en el paro. Pero dolor va a haber muchísimo. Especialmente entre los nuevos jubilados que están comprando para extraer renta y tener más pensión. Ahí, el que no se vaya pronto a criar malvas lo va a pasar muy mal.Esta vez el ladrillo no tiene poder para arrastrar a toda la economía si cae.