The old stock market cliché "sell in May, and go away" had so far proved untrue this year. Instead, it is the bond market -- so often perceived as steady, low risk and dependable -- that has bitten investors. In fact, June was one of the worst months for bonds in many years. The declines were steep enough to serve as an acute reminder that nothing, and I do mean nothing, in the financial world is without risk.
Read moreThe Upside: Why Egypt Should Look to Turkey
Reuters Columnist Zachary Karabell talks to Mideast expert Richard Bulliett about the future for the Egyptian revolution
Read moreBonds are not safe
The old stock market cliché "sell in May, and go away" had so far proved untrue this year. Instead, it is the bond market, so often perceived as steady, low risk and dependable, that has bitten investors.
Read moreThe Upside: The Reasons Europe Still Haunts the World Economy
Egypt is getting the attention right now but Europe remains a serious concern for the global economy, in part because of high unemployment among the young, says Reuters columnist Zachary Karabell.
Read moreIgnore the Markets (and the Fed), the Economy Is Doing Fine
You could be forgiven for missing the latest installment of market panic over the past ten days. It came and went like a summer thunderstorm -- passing over the global financial landscape quickly and violently. But unlike meteorological events that inflict actual harm, the sharp gyrations of financial markets have increasingly less relationship to real-world economies and exist in their own never-never land of self-fulfilling prophecies and conventional wisdom.
Read moreThe Upside: Why Markets Are Out of Touch
Reuters columnist Zachary Karabell explains why Americans are not freaking out over the recent big swings in stocks and bonds.
Read moreStormy markets, smooth seas
It came and went like a summer thunderstorm, but unlike meteorological events that inflict actual harm, the sharp gyrations of financial markets exist in their own never-never land of self-fulfilling prophecies and conventional wisdom.
Read moreCOLUMN - Stormy markets, smooth seas
You could be forgiven for missing the latest installment of market panic over the past ten days. It came and went like a summer thunderstorm, passing over the global financial landscape quickly and violently. But unlike meteorological events that inflict actual harm, the sharp gyrations of financial markets have increasingly less relationship to real-world economies and exist in their own never-never land of self-fulfilling prophecies and conventional wisdom.
Read moreMI Forum: Sustainable Excellence: The Future of Business in a Fast-Changing World
The Great Recession could have put the brakes on the global march toward sustainability. Instead, it only proved sustainability's necessity, Aron Cramer and Zachary Karabell argue in their new book, "Sustainable Excellence: The Future of Business in a Fast-Changing World."
Read moreThe Upside: Hey, It's Time to Stop Beating Up the Fed!
Forget the NSA's spying program! What really will shape our future is the Fed, according to Reuters Columnist Zachary Karabell. He speaks to former Treasury official David Malpass.
Read moreAmericans' Fickle Stance on Data Mining and Surveillance
As the week continues, so does the furor over the government's electronic and big data surveillance. It's largely framed in the terms that President Obama described on June 7th: "You can't have 100 percent security and also then have 100 percent privacy and zero inconvenience." That observation may be true, but we are approaching this issue 100 percent wrong.
Read moreThe Upside: The Real Threat to Your Online Privacy
Reuters Columnist Zachary Karabell has the latest on what you should really fear when it comes to other organizations using your data.
Read moreZachary Karabell: U.S. - China Relations
After more than a decade of intimate economic relations, China and the United States have become deeply intertwined. Historian Zachary Karabell maintains that while neither country is fully at ease with this partnership, the occasional tension over intellectual property, human rights, and regional strategy pales in comparison to the deepening and on-going economic bonds that tie the two countries together.
Read moreObama and Xi's weekend getaway
This weekend, President Obama and China's new leader Xi Jinping will meet at a retreat outside of Los Angeles. The two men are scheduled to spend six to seven hours covering a range of issues that confront the two countries, from the increasingly fraught issue of hacking and cybersecurity to what to do about an evermore unpredictable and rogue North Korea.
Read moreThe Upside: Forget the Fed, it's all about the China Summit!
Don't get distracted by whether the Fed will wind down bond buying, according to Reuters Columnist Zachary Karabell. Instead focus on the U.S.- China summit.
Read moreDo American Politicians Even Care About the Rise of China Anymore?
This weekend, President Obama and China's new leader Xi Jinping will meet at a retreat outside of Los Angeles. The two men are scheduled to spend six to seven hours covering a range of issues that confront the two countries, from the increasingly fraught issue of hacking
Read moreZachary Karabell on the Brave New World: Understanding the Impact of U.S. China Trade Relations
Zachary Karabell discusses the global trade relations and analyzes how China's economic success is inextricably linked to the buoyancy of the U.S. economy.
Read moreThe Upside: Forget DC Scandals, Focus on the Tech Boom
Reuters Columnist Zachary Karabell on why you should be investing in the tech revolution and not be distracted by recent political scandals in DC.
Read moreThe Lady Gaga Fix: How the U.S. Is Rethinking GDP for the 21st Century
This week the government released yet another revision of first-quarter economic growth showing that the U.S. economy grew a tad less than initially reported ‑- 2.4 percent rather than 2.5 percent. This revision was hardly consequential, but over the summer the Bureau of Economic Analysis will unveil a new way to calculate the overall output of the United States. And that revision will be dramatic.
Read moreCOLUMN - Building a better economic yardstick: the new US GDP
This week the U.S. government released yet another revision of 2013 first-quarter economic growth showing that the economy grew a little less than initially reported - 2.4 percent rather than 2.5 percent on an annualized basis.
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