Annual Strategy Roundtable: Austerity Vs. Growth

Trevor Houser delivers a speech on “China, Energy & the Commodities Super-Cycle” at the Global Fixed Income Institute’s Annual Strategic Roundtable in Sintra, Portugal. A description of the talk: “In addition to structural stimuli to inflation (QE, LTRO, low rates, asset purchase programmes, etc.), demand pressures have been building up for some time. The greatest single key to these is China, and the influence of Chinese growth on global energy and commodities markets. A leading China expert will evaluate the medium term outlook for that economy, threats to the Chinese growth outlook, how long a China-led commodities super cycle is likely to last, and the consequences of these factors for global inflation and bond markets.”

This year, the Annual Strategic Roundtable focuses on Austerity Versus Growth: The Burning Policy Question of Our Time:

“If inflation is back, which it may well be, it will not be viewed with the same trepidation as before. This is because it would, of itself, provide some relief to debt burdens, and indicate a return to growth desperately needed by Western economies to help earn their way out of the fiscal deficits caused by recent financial crises. Delegates to the Roundtable will explore the consequences of inflationary pressures for the fortunes of the fixed income markets, and how these may differ from the past. They will also debate the timing and depth of fiscal austerity programmes, which has been the central issue of the recent French and Greek elections. Critical also are the implications of the cascade of new regulations which the financial crises have prompted, especially as these are impacting the level and deployment of bank capital and the opportunities and risks which these, in turn, are creating for buyside fixed income investors.”