• Norway Buying European Peripheral Bonds 9 Sep 2010
• Meeting Bank Capital Requirements in Europe 15 Nov 2011
• What if foreigners dump government bonds? 15 Nov 2011

• Strong Brazilian Retail Sales, Strong Real 14 Apr 2010
• French and bank downgrades likely while Sweden blows away growth estimates 29 Nov 2011

• Chart of the Day: European bank funding starting to dry up 2 Sep 2011
• Euro bank funding, collateral, and outlook 22 Nov 2011
• Money Market Developments 27 May 2010

• Norway makes three 28 Oct 2009
• Interest rates, the pound and good news for Brits 8 Aug 2008
• Reserve Bank of Australia lifts rates again 2 Nov 2009

The financial climate has changed radically from when Norway’s Oil Fund was established in 1990. Norway has built up its savings since then by selling enormous quantities of oil and gas, and employing many thousands of workers. By coincidence, an even larger sum of $600 billion recently has been created overnight – electronically on computer keyboards, by the U.S. Federal Reserve Board as part of Chairman Ben Bernanke’s Quantitative Easing policy (QE2). This money has been provided to spur bank liquidity, in hope that they can earn their way out of the losses they suffer from their bad mortgage loans and other gambles.

The aim of these banks is the same as that of Norway’s Oil Fund: to make money. As the financial press has noticed, nearly the entire $600 billion has been sent abroad – to the BRIC countries and raw materials exporters in strong balance-of-payments positions, whose economies are not as “loaned up” as those of the United States and Europe, where Norway invests most of its money. So while Norway is putting its money into these countries, their financial managers are jumping ship – sending electronic dollars and euros to the economies that use their own sovereign wealth funds in the opposite way from what Norway is doing.

• Going Off on Rogoff – There is No Hard Debt Constraint for Fiat Currency 2 Mar 2010
• Norway Buying European Peripheral Bonds 9 Sep 2010

• Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund loses $125 billion 15 Jan 2009
• Weber says ECB may start taking a haircut on Greek bonds 10 Mar 2010
• Germans to SWFs: keep your hands off our companies 20 Aug 2008

• BBH CurrencyView: Dollar Bid on Poor European Sentiment, EM Lower Too 16 Apr 2010

• The Swedish banking crisis response – a model for the future? 13 Aug 2008
• A few thoughts about the banking crisis response in the United States 17 Mar 2009
• The Swedish roots of the UK bailout plan 8 Oct 2008