Philippe Herlin

France does not disclose which countries hold its public debt. But according to AFT, 54% of the State’s debt is held by “non-resident” investors.

France's image in the world is plummeting at a time when its budget deficit appears to be totally out of control, reaching the same level as at the time of the Covid crisis. Remember that half of France's public debt is held by foreign investors. Any significant lack of confidence would result in...

The dissolution of the French National Assembly is totally irrational, but the President Macron has decided to go ahead with it, so we'll just have to live with it. A huge period of uncertainty is opening up, and the markets don't like it (the CAC 40 has wiped out all its gains since the start of...

Saving is necessary and normal, but doesn't saving too much indicate a fear of the future? This seems to be the inclination of Europeans, according to a recent study by the research department of Natixis (Why are consumers in the eurozone so cautious?).

In the economic turmoil, the FGDR's deposit guarantee scheme is an illusion in the face of real risks, emphasizing the importance of diversifying one's financial assets to guard against banking crises.

It's still too early to know whether a second wave of inflation will occur, but gold seems to suspect it...

A gloomy outlook: inflation is set to remain persistently high in Europe. We've been saying this for a long time. A Natixis study supports this view and identifies several factors (which we re-rank in order of importance) driving up prices in the long term.

Inflation takes off at around 4% in Japan, a significant level for a country which, apart from the 2014 surge, has generally recorded inflation rates close to zero, or even negative, since the turn of the century.

It's time to put a stop to this belief, oversold by certain bankers and financial magazines: No, stocks are not the best long-term investment.

Real estate prices in France are falling, but have we seen the last of expensive housing? Far from it! Price distortion has reached a level that will take a long time to resolve. And this rise in property prices is a global phenomenon.

The price of gold beats its record, both in dollars and euros. Bitcoin climbs, but remains far from its 2021 high. At the same time, the stock market is making some headway, and housing is more or less depressed across the globe. Something is going on. Aside from cyclical explanations (a slowdown...

Fifty years to the day after the Yom Kippur War, the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel stunned the world with its brutality and suddenness. It was anticipated that this war would last longer than the previous one (less than twenty days, from October 6 to 25, 1973), with the threat of global reperc...

The ECB has just raised its deposit rate to 4% and halted its sovereign debt repurchases, with the stated aim of stamping out inflation. Unfortunately, this will probably have little effect, as oil prices are slowly but surely climbing.

From being a purely economic variable, inflation will also become a geopolitical issue through the Russia/NATO war, de-dollarization and an increasingly multipolar world. It's vital to be aware of this and to act globally, otherwise things are going to end very badly, especially for Europeans.

Bitcoin is often presented as "digital gold", but the question immediately arises: competition or complementarity? Gold benefits from a centuries-old history and unrivalled trust, while crypto-currencies bring the innovation of blockchain, and it is here that synergies can occur.

When we compare the performance of different investments (gold, real estate, stocks, bonds, commodities, etc.), we often forget an essential element: are we talking about a homogeneous asset or a category? It's not the same thing: "You can't compare apples and oranges", as the saying goes.

The central banks' communication on the CBDC projects is a trial run, to test reactions, and then it will naturally appear simpler to stay with a single currency.

Inflation will persist. Central banks are slow to react and the current level of interest rates will not be enough to stop the rise in prices. A "great depression" is looming…

Between bullish real estate, a currency that is slowly but surely devaluing and a sovereign wealth fund that will not be as promising as expected, the choices become more complex for the Norwegian saver. Physical gold should be reconsidered as an investment.

The bankruptcies of Eurovita and SVB, while waiting for the next ones, are linked to a bond crisis. It is not a question of fraud (FTX, Madoff), toxic assets (subprimes), or adventurous management (LTCM in 1998). No, the problem is the huge bundle of sovereign bonds that form the basis of the bal...