Credit Matters

With so many macro calamities at once, it can be hard to know how to prioritise. But the power of three is compelling, and Gary Jenkins thinks he has identified the ones that need the most attention.

Events in Cyprus have shown that the eurozone is very far from breaking the link between a sovereign and its banks. Gary Jenkins worries that populations are running out of places to put their money.

Eurozone finance ministers took a big gamble with one of the bloc’s smallest members, but the whole affair has Gary Jenkins shaking his head.

There are central banks and there are central banks. The skill, according to Gary Jenkins, is being able to spot which is which.

Gary Jenkins has been reminiscing. The grizzled credit analyst remembers the days of classic schoolboy games, and wonders how today’s heroes of the financial markets might fit in.

A protest meeting has provided Gary Jenkins with the backdrop for an interesting discussion of economic theory. His memory may be playing tricks on him, though, owing to a high speed collision with an unexpected flying object...

Analysis will surely produce more accurate predictions than emotion, writes Gary Jenkins, whether the topic for discussion is politics or investment.

In business, as in life, reputation is everything. Or is it? The Moody’s apparent change of view on a Spanish downgrade makes it harder now to believe anything a rating agency says, argues Gary Jenkins. But he wonders whether that matters anymore.

After all the worry, the world was treated to an awe-inspiring display of European unity last weekend — although inevitably it was Germany that had to save the day. Gary Jenkins wonders if the experience could provide lessons for other crises.

It has been a glorious year of sport, but a less glorious one for the eurozone. Gary Jenkins finds there is one stand-out candidate for any accolades that might be going, but wonders what his legacy might be.

Negotiation skills, economic knowledge and ruthlessness — if the eurozone sovereign debt crisis was played out on a board game, Gary Jenkins reckons he would have all the tools he’d need to win.

The Libor scandal raises scores of questions about the state of the banking industry and its regulatory watchdogs. But above all it has highlighted the futility of any attempt to grasp the full mechanics of complex modern banks. Gary Jenkins reckons the only solution is a total reimagining of what the sector should look like.