Author: Izabella Kaminska
First published: FT Alphaville, 18/10/2010
Here’s an interesting promo for the new book by UBS senior economic adviser, George Magnus.
To drum up a bit of attention for ‘Uprising: Will Emerging Markets Shape or Shake the World Economy?’ the Swiss bank has released a selection of internal emails between UBS economists (that would be Paul Donovan and Magnus, for the most part) on the future role of government-owned infrastructure banks; which for the record, Magnus thinks are needed to soothe global imbalances before they reach breaking point.
In late September, Erika Karp, head of global sector research, fired off an email to several UBS economists soliciting views on the possibility of governments setting up their own banks to “intermediate” in the financial system.
The below, they say, was the (presumably highly-edited) outcome. It’s long, but well worth a read since it provides a refreshingly two-sided view from a major bank.
Email number one:
From: Karp, Erika
Sent: 21 September 2010
To: Magnus, George; Donovan, Paul
Subject: Government owned banks, infrastructure funding
Gentlemen – When you have a moment, I would be extremely interested in your respective thoughts from a different angle relating to government involvement in the banking sector. more