Digital Currency

I’ve been curious as to what the next change in central banking will be..we’ve had the gold standard, the removal of the gold standard leading to the fiat system being more prominent and thereby to the US dollar effectively becoming the world’s currency, the establishment of the IMF etc etc so what’s next? Sweden seems to be leading the way, (interesting side note the Riksbank, their central bank is the world’s oldest central bank) and is now looking at establishment a central bank-back digital currency, here’s an quick article on it, Sweden’s Riksbank eyes digital currency 

Rice

GRI has come out with a quick analysis on the potential unrest in upcountry Thailand with the declines in soft commodity prices especially rice, needless to say that Thaksin effectively bought the votes of the Isarn with the rice subsidies but then again how is that different from any other politician most of the world has seen..back to the thoughts, should rice prices continue to remain low combined with the fact that the majority farmers effectively sold their land and now just toiling away for 1/2 of what they used to make, what social/economical issues may this raise?

• Despite the importance of rice cultivation, the production which yields the highest incomes is mainly under the control of the larger conglomerates. Farmers also lose out on profits to powerful and influential middlemen. Farmers have little control over their land. The junta’s article 44 can be used by the government agency overseeing land redistribution, the Agricultural Land Reform Office (ALRO), to force farmers off land. Many farmers have a mortgage with local businessmen, and are mired in debt. Research shows that the percentage of farmers owning land in Thailand has dropped dramatically – from 44% in 2004 to 15% in 2011. Analysts see the land sales as a symptom of an expanding household debt crisis that could plunge Isan into social instability.
• Source: GRI

Trump

This is going to be YUGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE, yeah we have Trump and as a result we get to read everyone’s viewpoint on the economy/markets as a result of this. Here’s two:

• Howard Marks:Thus two key observations can be made based on last week’s developments: 
  • First, no one really knows what events are going to transpire.
  • And second, no one knows what the market’s reaction to those events will be.

Source: OakTree

• Bill Gross :
• Unless the worker’s share of GDP reverses its downward trend, and capital’s share peaks, then populists worldwide will reject establishment parties in almost every future election – initiating in some cases growth-negative policies revolving around trade, immigration, and yes, in Trump’s case, lower taxation that may lower GDP growth, not raise it.

Source: Janus Capital