Whether it was funded by Soros, the CIA, the Rothschilds or even Putin is unclear, but moments ago the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists - the group responsible for preparing and organizing the Panama Papers leak - published a searchable database laying out 214,000 offshore entities created in 21 jurisdictions, from Nevada to Hong Kong and the British Virgin Islands.
Former Goldmanite, and current Minneapolis Fed president and paradoxical "crusader" against TBTF banks and bank bailouts (such as the one he was instrumental in drafting during the financial crisis) Neil Kashkari, spoke moments ago at the Economic Club of Minnesota, where he delivered a speech titled "The Role and Limitations of Monetary Policy." Among the otherwise irrelevant things he said the following:
It often comes as a surprise to those unfamiliar with the Bank of Japan's M.O., that unlike other developed central banks (except the SNB, of course, while even the PBOC recently admitted it now buys stocks directly to prop up the Chinese stock market via the Buttonwood SPV), the BoJ has no qualms about admitting it actively purchases equities, either in the form of single name stocks or, more actively in recent years, ETFs. Or, as the case may now be, selling them.
The London property bubble shows renewed signs that it is beginning to burst. Property sellers in the UK have reduced their asking prices and London property prices have fallen by 7.8 per cent on average and as much as 30% in some areas according to City AM today.
City AM – Data via Zoopla
In recent months unexpected calls have emerged from unexpected sources questioning whether capitalism is even working any more in a world in which corporate profits refuse to drop leading to paltry wage gains and thus, lack of the all-important wage inflation. Most recently it was none other than Goldman who wrote in February that "we are always wary of guiding for mean reversion. But, if we are wrong and high margins manage to endure for the next few years (particularly when global demand growth is below trend), there are broader questions to be asked about the efficacy of capitalism."