Bouncing back from the brink

Incredible as it may seem, there have even been signs of a slight overheating of the economy – as evidenced by Twitter’s debut on the New York Stock Exchange. The company, which had not revealed its profits to investors – and it is not actually clear how it makes money – was worth USD 30 bln at the end of the first day of trading. So it came as no surprise when the new head of the Fed, Janet Yellen, at more or less the same time had to assure American senators that the situation on Wall Street did not herald an imminent speculative bubble. At the same time, the Fed has been indicating that there are no plans at the moment to turn off the influx of money into the market. It is hoped that this continuing liquidity will keep the bourses buoyant – a scenario made more credible by the current macroeconomic data: US GDP growth exceeded 2 pct in Q3, while in Japan the rate of growth was also around 2 pct. Some signs of a revival are also evident in Europe. The si