Macro drums hit louder this week

plus, what BRICS payment platform?, some newsletter musings, and ghosts

“Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions.” – G. K. Chesterton   || 

Hi everyone, I hope you’re all doing well! Terrible floods in Spain last night. 😟

One day until Halloween (some spooky music below). Six days until the US election. BTC touched $73,624 yesterday – not quite the all-time high of $73,738, but darn close. It broke its all-time high in euro terms, as well as in many other currencies. Things feel intense.

Below, I look at the flurry of economic data due this week, and at pushback on the likelihood of an alternative BRICS payment system making a dent in dollar demand. Also, I update on some newsletter stuff – suggestions and feedback would be welcome!

Programming note: It’s a holiday here on Friday (All Saints’ Day), so this newsletter will be taking a break.

IN THIS NEWSLETTER:

• Macro drums hit louder this week

• What alternative BRICS payment system?

• Newsletter stuff

• Interesting podcast links

• A crushing review of Gensler’s administration

If you’re not a premium subscriber, I hope you’ll consider becoming one. ❤

WHAT I’M WATCHING:

Macro drums hit louder this week

With the buildup of noise heading into the US election next week, it’s easy to lose sight of significant macro data drops because surely only the election matters, right? Nope – it may be the large macro unknown on the horizon, but the Federal Reserve still has a big megaphone, perhaps only useful for shaping expectations but powerful nevertheless.