Counter-disinfo tactics are getting more sophisticated ahead of election season
A coalition of publicly-funded fact-checking institutions, some boasting NATO affiliations, have embarked on a grand tour of American newsrooms to “inoculate” journalists against the disinformation of bad actors and foreign powers ahead of this year’s presidential elections, the Blind Spot can report. In a sign of growing counter-disinformation sophistication among fact-checking bodies, reporters are being […]
Spotlight on the Libyan conflict: explaining the unexplainable
After 13 years of fighting, the Western hemisphere’s longest-running active conflict remains its most bizarre standoff. And yet, almost everything makes perfect sense. French and American interests supported the rise of a former CIA-asset-turned-warlord, Khalifa Haftar, who battled on the Libyan streets alongside Wagner militias and Emirati Mirage jets against a UN-recognised government backed by […]
Spotlight: What the great neo-medievalisation will look like
In the conduct of states, as in the conduct of individuals, appearances constantly shift while the fundamentals always remain unchanged. One of our recurring Blind Spot themes has been the neo-medievalisation of the world. Originally associated with Hedley Bull since the late 70s, the trend described the globalised world as analogous to high-medieval Europe. In […]
Spotlight on the pre-positioning revolution coming to finance
TLDR: Cbankers’ enthusiastic embrace of prepositioning points to growing acceptance of former BoE governor Lord Mervyn King’s ‘Pawnbroker For All Seasons” model. But some worry it might have grave consequences for free markets. There’s a quiet revolution happening at the heart of central banking, but you wouldn’t necessarily know it. On the surface, the inconspicuous […]
**IMPORTANT** The Uber surge pricing model really is coming to liquidity markets
Lorie Logan gives nod that The Blind Spot’s intraday liquidity thesis is accurate.
Could Trump use forgotten Chinese debt to salvage the global economy?
As the United States confronts an impending government shutdown amid an unwelcome outbreak of bond vigilantism, an unexpected remedy to global financial implosion might just lie in a murky corner of long forgotten financial history. Dormant for decades, the Blind Spot understands the overlooked issue of defaulted Chinese imperial debt is quietly turning heads on […]
Europe’s wind sector is in a ‘severe crisis’ (POLITICO)
By Victor Jack, Abby Wallace · Aug 18, 2023 BRUSSELS — The U.K. and EU are likely to miss their 2030 wind energy installation targets as the sector runs into increasing difficulties, putting Europe’s green transition at risk. Surging inflation, supply chain bottlenecks, hold-ups in getting permits, problems with government-backed subsidy schemes and mounting competition […]
European financiers fret over US debt ceiling “collateral damage” (POLITICO)
By Ben Munster · May 26, 2023 Panic in Europe? Over a U.S. debt default? Surely not … well, maybe. Just a little. OK, quite a lot, to judge by an awkward exchange at the International Capital Markets Association’s annual bash in Paris on Thursday. “My question,” AXA Investment Management fixed-income chief Hans Stoter told […]
Regulators threaten to rain on Tether’s parade (POLITICO)
By Bjarke Smith-Meyer, Ben Munster · May 19, 2023 BRUSSELS — Few expected Tether, the world’s most prominent stablecoin, to survive the crypto market meltdown. Instead, the issuer of dollar-pegged digital tokens revealed it was thriving by this month posting a first-quarter profit of $1.5 billion that left most of its rivals in its wake. […]
The battle for your savings is JUST beginning (POLITICO)
By Bjarke Smith-Meyer – May 5, 2023 There’s a turf war going on for your savings. At stake are over $16 trillion worth of deposit balances in the European Union alone, vital to banks’ capacity to keep credit flowing to small businesses and individuals. This is especially the case in Europe which relies far more […]