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Make sense of a disrupted world

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John Plender

Senior Editorial Columnist

John Plender has been a senior editorial writer and columnist at the Financial Times since 1981, an assignment he combined until recently with current affairs broadcasting for the BBC and Channel Four. He has a weekly column on economics and business on Mondays and also writes for the opinion pages.

John Plender was the winner of the Wincott Foundation senior prize for excellence in financial journalism in 1994.

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  • Tuesday, 15 October, 2019
    European Central Bank
    ECB critics are right to worry on monetary policy

    There is moral hazard in debt monetisation as it can neuter market discipline

  • Thursday, 3 October, 2019
    ObituaryPeter Stormonth Darling
    Peter Stormonth Darling, banker, 1932-2019

    Chairman of Mercury Asset Management during its years of stellar performance

  • Monday, 30 September, 2019
    FTfmFund management
    Markets beset by foolery fit the bubble description

    The greater fool theory flourishes when investments become speculative

  • Monday, 23 September, 2019
    ReviewBooks
    Big Business, by Tyler Cowen

    A robust defence of the pursuit of corporate profit

  • Wednesday, 18 September, 2019
    Markets InsightSovereign bonds
    What could tip the bond market equilibrium?

    There are a lot of buyers standing in the way of a reversal

  • Tuesday, 6 August, 2019
    Foreign exchange
    The threat of a US-China currency war

    Were Beijing to sell off its Treasury holdings, extreme market volatility would follow

  • Friday, 2 August, 2019
    ReviewBiography and memoir
    Bagehot by James Grant — an engaging biography

    Enjoyable new insights into the life of former Economist editor Walter Bagehot

  • Wednesday, 24 July, 2019
    Markets InsightCapital markets
    Markets need to heed the lessons from the 1970s

    Extremely low real bond yields suggest a monetary system that has lost credibility

  • Monday, 24 June, 2019
    FTfmEthical and responsible investment
    Norway and Japan show conflicts in ESG investment

    Pair highlight choice between screening out and engaging with troublesome companies

  • Promoted Content
  • Wednesday, 5 June, 2019
    Markets InsightGlobal Economy
    Emerging markets are victims of a new world order

    Donald Trump has destroyed much of the institutional underpinning of globalisation

  • Wednesday, 22 May, 2019
    Markets InsightSovereign bonds
    EU’s bond markets underprice the risk of populism

    Politicians in northern Europe need to get to grips with a flawed monetary union

  • Wednesday, 24 April, 2019
    Markets InsightUS Dollar
    America’s dollar privilege is not exactly exorbitant

    Generous yields on US Treasuries undermine critics of greenback’s reserve currency role

  • Thursday, 18 April, 2019
    ReviewEconomics books
    The Story of Silver by William Silber — impeccably researched

    After 50 years of fiat money, the white metal may once again claim its place as a haven

  • Wednesday, 3 April, 2019
    Capital markets
    Negative bond yields revive fears of secular stagnation

    Post-crisis lesson is that only fiscal stimulus can provide an effective remedy

  • Wednesday, 20 March, 2019
    FTfmPassive Investing
    We ignore the index providers’ power at our peril

    Their growing muscle, and the fact it is unregulated, is increasingly a worry

  • Tuesday, 12 March, 2019
    Markets InsightEurozone economy
    Why ‘Japanification’ looms for the sluggish eurozone

    Low growth and inflation and ample central bank liquidity recall post-bubble Japan

  • Tuesday, 19 February, 2019
    Markets InsightUS equities
    For stocks, it’s corporate buying that really matters

    Companies are the biggest buyers of equities through buybacks and acquisitions

  • Wednesday, 9 January, 2019
    Markets InsightFederal Reserve
    Don’t blame the Fed if the US economy tanks

    The culprit is more likely to be markets than monetary policy in the event of a recession

  • Wednesday, 2 January, 2019
    Corporate governance
    Shareholders are being dethroned as rulers of value

    More investors emphasise social and governance factors in corporate performance

  • Wednesday, 12 December, 2018
    Markets InsightCapital markets
    Investors can ease friction caused by deglobalisation

    Markets act as mechanisms to help allay tension between countries and central banks

  • Monday, 19 November, 2018
    Fund management
    Luck or judgment? The science behind the stock buyback craze
  • Tuesday, 13 November, 2018
    Markets InsightCentral banks
    Complacent investors face prospect of a Minsky moment

    Big question around instability hypothesis turns on behaviour of central banks

  • Thursday, 8 November, 2018
    Chinese business & finance
    China’s IPO dominance highlighted by small listings

    Vast divide between listings of growth-oriented groups raising equity of less than $50m

  • Tuesday, 23 October, 2018
    Markets InsightPassive Investing
    Passive fund managers can shape the corporate landscape

    They are proving pivotal in control contests, activist campaigns and mergers

  • Tuesday, 25 September, 2018
    Markets InsightUS Treasury bonds
    Twin deficits are conducive to dollar strength

    Reserve currency still looks best of a bad bunch against the euro, yen and renminbi

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