Courtesy of Mish.
Steen Jakobsen, chief economist and CIO at Saxo Bank, has a interesting article today on War & Markets I present below as a guest post.
Steen says …
Prepare for less growth, less certainty and more geopolitical risk
Crude oil price is simplest proxy for geopolitical risk
Wars reflect a world where growth is low and energy expensive
“There are causes worth dying for, but none worth killing for” – Albert Camus
The world is increasingly becoming engaged in civil wars and general turmoil where Camus’ words could and should play a central but never will. This article is one of the hardest to write as war is never about right or wrong. They are per definition always wrong and extremely personal and emotional. The fact is, however, that we need to put “the risk of wars” into our macro outlook as they are increasing not only in intensity but also in the numbers of casualties.
I will not condone anyone or any party involved in the present conflicts – I learned my hard lesson advocating the removal of Saddam Hussein, only to learn that his successors are just as bad. Therefore, Camus’ words will remain my mantra.
The simplest way to “measure” geopolitical risk is to look at the price of energy. Energy is everything for a macro economist as it’s a tax on the economy when high, and a discount when low. High energy consumption levels makes it a critical part of any projection but despite this, energy assumptions are often exogenous (given!).
Think about this: Everything you did this morning involved energy consumption: Waking up to your smart phone (charging overnight), putting on the coffee, pouring the cold milk from the fridge, taking a shower, driving the car to work and walking into your air-conditioned office. Likewise, the rest of your day will be one big consumption of energy. The world’s energy resources are primarily extracted from “volatile” or underdeveloped regions, creating a real risk of disruption of supply. Herein lies a clear and quantifiable risk.
The way I measure this geopolitical risk is through measuring the spread between the 5th contract of WTI crude oil and the first contract. Of course, there are other factor at work, but in the absence of a better alternative, I use this War Risk Premium Indicator.
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