ROME, June 8 (Reuters) - Italy’s Treasury set out plans on Monday for a new bond, for retail investors only, called the ‘BTP Futura’, whose proceeds will be entirely used to fund measures to help the economy recover from the coronavirus epidemic.

Italy is set to borrow half a trillion euros this year to help weather the pandemic and the Treasury is aiming to gradually double the amount of Italian sovereign bonds held by small investors.

The new bond will be put on sale for the fist time from July 6-10 and will have a maturity of between eight and ten years, with a final decision to be announced on June 19, a statement said.

The yield will increase over time and will include a “loyalty premium” for investors who hold the bond until maturity, which will be linked to Italy’s gross domestic product (GDP).

There will be a second issue of the bond after the summer, the...

“I’d like to share a revelation that I’ve had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you’re not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus.”Agent Smith, The Matrix, 1999

“I’d like to share a revelation that I’ve had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you’re not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus.”Agent Smith, The Matrix, 1999

Hedge funds are betting that inflation will pick up as central banks and governments world-wide print and spend vast amounts of money to support jobs and businesses hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

That bet goes against the weight of recent history.

Gold, a classic inflation hedge, has surged 14% this year as investors fret that central banks...

History moves not in a line, but in tipping points. Investors often focus on the short-term business cycle, assuming the current economic and political infrastructure will remain in place. There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen – Lenin said with reference to the Russian revolution. The Covid-19 pandemic and its policy responses call capitalism into question: should taxpayers bail out firms where shareholders got large dividends but paid little in taxes? Who will pick up the public debt tab?

The answers to these questions bring an acceleration in history, pushing forward economic policy ideas as well as geopolitical developments which have been in the making over the past decade.

Capitalism and globalisation have failed to distribute wealth efficiently. Growth rates have declined since the post-war period, for structural reasons well-known as secular stagnation. Yet as the economic pie grew slower, returns on capital...

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You can use the search function to find a range of UK Finance material, from consultation responses to thought leadership to blogs, or to find content on a range of topics from Brexit to commercial finance.