Chief Economist, Aletheia Capital

Dr. Jim Walker

Jim Walker is the chief economist at Aletheia Analyst Network Limited, an independent research platform for the Asia Pacific region. Prior to joining Aletheia he was the founder and chief economist at Asianomics Group an economics and strategy research consultancy company formed in late 2007. 

Before establishing Asianomics he was the chief economist at CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets. He joined CLSA in late 1991. Over the years Dr Jim achieved numerous ‘best economist’ rankings in the Asiamoney, Institutional Investor and Greenwich surveys of fund managers. In 1995 he wrote about the prospect of Asia being forced off its de facto dollar peg “within the next two-three years”. The Asian Crisis, precipitated by the Thai baht devaluation, began in July 1997.

In recent years he is best known for forecasting the US 2007 downturn and financial sector meltdown in his series of ‘Apocalypse’ reports. He remains deeply sceptical of the prevailing wisdom in central banks’ approach to monetary policy.

Over the years he has also developed an approach to analysing Asian economies based on profit and credit cycles where the importance of investment spending as the driver of economic activity is explained.

Early in his career he worked in his native Scotland as a research fellow at the Fraser of Allander Institute for Research on the Scottish Economy, and then at The Royal Bank of Scotland’s Edinburgh headquarters. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Honours degree and a doctorate in economics from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow.

Chief Economist

Independent and original Asian investment research

Aletheia Capital

Aletheia Capital (HK) Ltd. (previously known as Asianomics) combines the extensive knowledge of its experienced team with technology and regulatory changes to disrupt Global Markets business in Asia. The firm is completely independent with no conflicts of interest either on Investment Banking advisory or Capital Markets execution.

Macroeconomics

<ul><li>Bank of Thailand kept interest rates unchanged at 1%, it&amp;#39;s a bit dangerous to be leaving the interest rate unchanged when inflation has picked up and is likely to go higher over the course of the rest of the year. Philippines Central Bank raised interest rates to 5% from 4.75%, not good news for a country where investment is contracting at almost double-digit levels. Bank of Korea also raised 25bps to 3% to ease the inflation pressure caused by the semiconductor industry.</li><li>Taiwanese Central Bank used to be one of the sound money proponents in Asia because it monitored money supply growth and credit growth as the variables which would determine monetary policy, but that is gone as Taiwan moved towards a cheap exchange rate strategy.</li><li>Chinese industrial profits increased about 11% year on year in July, 17.6% year to date, which is very different from what we&amp;#39;re seeing in the return on equity in the stock market. The overall profit figures in China are not that badly and that usually is the precursor for an upswing in the business cycle.</li></ul>

Bank of Thailand kept interest rates unchanged at 1%, it&amp;#39;s a bit dangerous to be leaving the interest rate unchanged when inflation has picked up and is likely to go higher over the course of the rest of the year. Philippines Central Bank raised interest rates to 5% from 4.75%, not good news for a country where investment is contracting at almost double-digit levels. Bank of Korea also raised 25bps to 3% to ease the inflation pressure caused by the semiconductor industry.Taiwanese Central Bank used to be one of the sound money proponents in Asia because it monitored money supply growth and credit growth as the variables which would determine monetary policy, but that is gone as Taiwan moved towards a cheap exchange rate strategy.Chinese industrial profits increased about 11% year on year in July, 17.6% year to date, which is very different from what we&amp;#39;re seeing in the return on equity in the stock market. The overall profit figures in China are not that badly and that usually is the precursor for an upswing in the business cycle.

Walker’s Weekly: Dr. Jim's Summary of Key Global Macro Developments - 28 August 2026