MarketMinder's View: Actually, in our view, there’s ample data showing stocks’ recent rally isn’t a Fed bubble or otherwise driven by credit. Most of the money printed by the world’s central banks is sitting as excess bank reserves, and bank lending hasn’t meaningfully increased. Yes, margin debt has risen on an absolute level, but the ratio of margin debt to cash is well below historical levels, suggesting claims of a market rally built on fragile leverage are unfounded.

MarketMinder's View: If the complex protectionist system touted here were really the solution for poor working conditions in developing-world garment factories, then why were conditions in many nations so poor during its 1974-2005 existence?

MarketMinder's View: While a weak yen contributed to the 1997 Asian currency crisis, today’s weak yen doesn’t necessarily herald a repeat. Most of 1997’s trauma came from Asian nations defending, then discarding misaligned currency pegs. Today, these countries largely have free-floating currencies, making them less vulnerable to yen movement. For more, see our 4/23/2013 column, “Now and Yen.”

MarketMinder's View: The apparent disconnect between Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President François Hollande isn’t necessarily as meaningful as this piece suggests—more likely, it’s a function of temporary domestic political interests. Merkel has a re-election campaign to fight and, thus, a vested interest in not appearing too lenient with eurozone partners, while Hollande is fending off members of his cabinet who think he’s untrue to his Socialist party’s agenda. But that needn’t prevent compromise on eurozone matters when necessary.

MarketMinder's View: Bank stress tests are largely window-dressing—they don’t really tell you how a bank will respond to actual stress. To wit, Cyprus’s now-failed Laiki bank passed 2010 stress tests with flying colors.

MarketMinder's View: Fiscal and monetary stimulus gave Japan a boost in Q1, but sustained growth likely requires deep structural reform—and this piece highlights many of the most glaring needs. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may have the rare political capital to pull off meaningful change, but whether he can seize the opportunity remains to be seen.

MarketMinder's View: Our latest for The Street, on the underappreciated health of US demand.

MarketMinder's View: While LEI’s not a perfect gauge of economic direction, a high and rising LEI is one more sign of the US’s underappreciated economic strength.  

MarketMinder's View: “As this week’s dismal GDP figures demonstrate, Europe desperately needs some kind of deregulatory growth agenda, and yet it seems determined only on the reverse. To be pushing ahead with a stifling and invasive initiative at a time of deepening recession fair takes the breath away.” On the bright side, though, many in Europe have seemingly started realizing this, and the financial transactions tax looks increasingly likely to get watered down or scrapped altogether.

MarketMinder's View: Though both nations would likely be better off if Japan scrapped the beef tariff altogether, reducing it from 38% to 30% could help them get past one of the remaining sticking points in their free-trade negotiations.

MarketMinder's View: Here’s an interesting look at the economic inefficiencies of solar energy. In our view, if an industry can’t profit without massive taxpayer subsidies, its time likely hasn’t come yet—markets, not governments, will tell us when solar’s the way to go.

MarketMinder's View: Removing Bangladesh’s preferential market access may seem like an obvious policy response to deplorable working conditions in the nation’s garment factories, but as this piece highlights, it’s not necessarily the best solution. It could very well whack Bangladeshi workers without inciting the government to tackle the corruption enabling overcrowded, shoddily constructed factories.

MarketMinder's View: Absent official diplomatic relations with most of the world, these economic cooperation agreements are about as close to free trade as Taiwan can get with anyone other than China. Taiwan’s progressing on several such pacts, which should promote trade growth both on the island and throughout Asia.