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

World War Three: Part 3 - Demographics Baked in the Cake

Japan's QQE Experiment – Theatre of the Absurd

The Week That Was in NorthAsia@Smartkarma: Theatre of the Absurd, AxE, and Mount Paektu

World War Three: Part 1 – Falling Fertility

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.

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

In <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/world-war-three-part-1-falling-fertility" target="_blank">World War Three: Part 1 – Falling Fertility</a>, we focused on the increasingly widespread phenomenon of fertility levels below population replacement rates in rich countries. Along with rising life expectancy and rapidly aging populations the dearth of young people will soon start to cause serious pension and health-care payment problems unless economic growth rates are high. In World War Three: Part 2 – Economic Growth, we turn our attention to growth rates. In the developed world growth rates, since the onset of the financial crisis, have dropped precipitously but there are opportunities, especially for long-term investors, in emerging Asia.There is no deus ex machina for the developed world, no prospect of growth rates resuming which will take the ageing/fertility problem from “looming crisis” to just an “ongoing problem”. In Asia, there is a North-South divide but some parts of the region have done surprisingly well despite weak export growth in recent years.

In World War Three: Part 1 – Falling Fertility, we focused on the increasingly widespread phenomenon of fertility levels below population replacement rates in rich countries. Along with rising life expectancy and rapidly aging populations the dearth of young people will soon start to cause serious pension and health-care payment problems unless economic growth rates are high. In World War Three: Part 2 – Economic Growth, we turn our attention to growth rates. In the developed world growth rates, since the onset of the financial crisis, have dropped precipitously but there are opportunities, especially for long-term investors, in emerging Asia.There is no deus ex machina for the developed world, no prospect of growth rates resuming which will take the ageing/fertility problem from “looming crisis” to just an “ongoing problem”. In Asia, there is a North-South divide but some parts of the region have done surprisingly well despite weak export growth in recent years. 

World War Three: Part 2 – Growth, No Deus Ex Machina