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Author

Martin Hutchinson

Market analyst and author

[New York, United States]

Martin Hutchinson writes a weekly column, The Bear’s Lair, providing economic and market commentary at the Prudent Bear.

He was also Business and Economics Editor at United Press International, in Washington, D.C., from 2000 to 2004.

Previously, he was an international merchant banker for 25 years working in London, New York and Zagreb. In Zagreb, he established the Croatian debt capital markets.

He is the co-author (with Kevin Dowd) of Alchemists of Loss: How modern finance and government intervention crashed the financial system (Wiley, 2010). He also wrote Great Conservatives: A Perspective on British History (Academica Press, 2004), on the great British governments of 1783-1830.

Mr. Hutchinson has a degree from Trinity College, Cambridge, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

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Articles by Martin Hutchinson

Boomer-Dämmerung: 401(K) and Bust

The U.S. strategy of relying on rising stock markets to fund employee retirement has gone bust. Millennials will rejoice at the Twilight of the Boomers, a generation they dislike.

March 26, 2020

Uncomfortable Truths: “No Charge” Immigrants

Trump's public charge principle could usefully operate globally.

August 21, 2019

The Dangers of US Style Financial Engineering

Financial engineering has paid much better dividends for corporations than actual engineering. For the health especially of the U.S. economy, this needs to be reversed.

September 21, 2018

Toothless American Internet Giants?

In the past decade, America’s internet giants have grown to an enormous size. But the next few years are likely to be much less friendly to them.

April 12, 2018

Why North Korea Wants a Deal with the US

Can Vietnam serve as an inspiring example? Or is it Belarus?

March 29, 2018

One Hooray For Cryptocurrencies

Today’s tech sector has become a slow-moving behemoth, but there is one area bubbling with creativity -- that of crypto-currencies.

March 9, 2018

Gross Imaginary Product: Welcome to the Brave New World

From the United States to Japan and Europe, Gross Imaginary Product has exploded everywhere real interest rates have been kept below zero.

January 2, 2018

Britain’s Master Plan Regarding Europe

What can be done to derail a United States of Europe, or at least to neuter it?

December 20, 2017

When Boeing, AT&T, Verizon, GE, HP and Apple Fall Like Dominoes

Will hollowed-out US “blue-chip” companies form the core of the next subprime crisis?

November 15, 2017

Why Wait 30 Years for Robot CEOs?

Most CEO jobs are as outsourceable as everybody else’s. The incentive is greater too, given the direct savings in salary costs etc.

May 9, 2017

Why Theresa May’s Supposed Triumph May Not Happen

In calling snap elections for the UK on June 8, the British Prime Minister may have entered into a game of Russian Roulette.

May 2, 2017

How Do We Fix Finance?

The United States needs to put monstrous and mostly self-serving financial institutions in proper check.

April 27, 2017

Paul Ryan Exposed

Don’t ask cronies to reform crony capitalism

April 6, 2017

After Brexit: Pouring Cold Water on Scotland’s Dreams

An independent Scotland within the EU risks becoming Greece, but without the handouts. Its living standards would rapidly descend.

March 23, 2017

The US Electoral College and Weeding Out the Chaff

How the Founding Fathers’ original intent regarding the Electoral College over time was turned on its very head.

January 5, 2017

Will Trump’s Years Be Good for Gold?

Trump is of two minds on the whether he really wants to pursue sound economic policies or follow his instincts as a real estate developer.

December 20, 2016

The Holiday From History Is Over

Why it is not only smart, but mandatory for mature powers to stop being overly ambitious in the field of foreign policy.

October 11, 2016

Moving Into a Chinese-Indian World

A dual hegemony now looks unavoidable, but must we really fear it?

December 18, 2015

Argentina: What Next?

What are the country’s prospects after the surprise victory in the presidential elections?

December 4, 2015

The Meaning of Jeremy Corbyn

Corbyn does not need to win in 2020 in order to have a substantial effect on British politics.

September 11, 2015

UK: Abandoning Europe, Connecting With Whom Instead?

Brexit divorce will need a good lawyer – and a hot new “girlfriend.”

May 29, 2015

The Risk that Glows in the Dark

It is fairly likely that by 2030 a nuclear attack will have hit one or more major Western cities.

April 18, 2015

Being Old in 2040 Will Be No Fun

Current trends in demographics and national budgets will leave the elderly of the future in dire straits.

March 31, 2015

Bolivia: Where Socialism Appears to Work

Bolivia’s remarkable example of advancing economic and social inclusion.

October 24, 2014

The Congress of Vienna at 200

The enduring legacy of the best peace conference of all time.

October 12, 2014

Independent Scotland: Another Small EU Country?

Although quite a few other EU countries are even smaller than Scotland, smallness isn’t a virtue in itself.

August 6, 2014

China’s Coming Recession Will Lead to Considerable Unrest

Slow growth is already here after decades of economic expansion.

June 23, 2014

What Happens When the Robots Take Over?

A reflection on human ingenuity and production.

February 4, 2014

The United States as a Haven of Economic Inefficiency

Can the U.S. economy trim costs and make itself internationally competitive?

July 18, 2013

Funny Money and the Super-Rich

Is the U.S. Federal Reserve the chief culprit in bringing about the grotesque levels of U.S. income inequality?

April 18, 2013

Where Would China Be Without Nixon?

What would today's global economic landscape look like had Nixon not gone to China in 1973?

February 5, 2013

Just Blame the Mathematicians?

How did mathematicians and traders, working hand in hand, find ways to take larger risks than banks officially contemplated?

August 23, 2012

Reinventing Banking After the Jamie Dimon Flameout

Is the current financial landscape too complex for any self-styled J.P. Morgan to master?

May 21, 2012

The French Road to Perdition

How will the outcome of the French presidential election influence the fate of Europe's monetary union?

April 26, 2012

America: Populist Before It Was Capitalist

Do free-market principles often face a tougher battle in the United States than in supposedly socialist Europe?

November 3, 2010

Goldman's Rise in a World Without Responsibilities

Does the shift to transactional banking explain the many downsides of the finance business?

April 27, 2010

America’s Budding 1995 Nostalgia

With nostalgia budding for happier times, why should Americans look back on 1995 with fond memories?

March 30, 2010

Lessons from the Industrial Revolution

What can today's economists learn from new data on England's Industrial Revolution?

December 2, 2009

Rent-seekers' Nirvana

How are Wall Street bankers using the financial crisis to milk the rest of the country for all its worth?

November 6, 2009

Pick Your Tax Increase

How will Americans pay for all the deficits being created?

August 27, 2009

Prolonged Global Winter

Will inflation stemming from $5 trillion of global stimulus programs lengthen the recession?

April 9, 2009

Emerging or Submerging?

After the global financial crisis, what will be the fate of emerging economies?

October 31, 2008

The Return of Global Inflation

How is global inflation affecting world economic development?

August 1, 2008

The Fed’s Decade of Deception

What havoc has the U.S. Federal Reserve's ten years of deception wreaked on the U.S. — and global — economy?

January 10, 2008

The Brave New World, Avoided?

Take a tour of what life on earth would be like if hedge funds and private equity funds ruled the universe.

September 12, 2007

The Case for Europe’s Economic Conservatism

Is the U.S. economy really performing that much better than Europe's?

March 2, 2006