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

China Indicators Watchlist - Money and Credit

China Renminbi – Consensus Creamed (Again)

China Politics: The Biggest Crisis Since Tiananmen

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)

Is it just us or does the Twittersphere’s and newswires’ ‘discovery’ that Xi Jinping – the leader of a Communist Party – is committed to the central role of the state sector in China seem like faux outrage? Only a wilful misreading of his government’s agenda from the very first in early 2013 could have led analysts and commentators to the belief that his policies were meant to reform the Chinese corporate sector in a more ‘liberal’ way. Strengthening core state-owned companies was always the critical part of his plan, doing so with reference to market signals was as far as the reform agenda went. That is still the case. Xi Jinping’s work report to the 19th Party Congress was, literally, steady as we go. No surprises, no change of direction.Our correspondent on Chinese politics, Dr John Lee of the University of Sydney, laid out Xi Jinping's domestic political agenda in detail for us in his contribution to our 2014 report <a href="https://www.asianomicsgroup.com/document-view.html?ref=7934327c-47b1-46fc-8b37-4296f5034664" target="_blank">China: Game of Thrones</a>. We present an abridged version of John's assessment of more than three years ago - it was insightful then and has been correct in its analysis since. If you want to understand the ‘core’ leader's core values, and what we should expect to unfold over the next five years, it is well worth a read.

Is it just us or does the Twittersphere’s and newswires’ ‘discovery’ that Xi Jinping – the leader of a Communist Party – is committed to the central role of the state sector in China seem like faux outrage? Only a wilful misreading of his government’s agenda from the very first in early 2013 could have led analysts and commentators to the belief that his policies were meant to reform the Chinese corporate sector in a more ‘liberal’ way. Strengthening core state-owned companies was always the critical part of his plan, doing so with reference to market signals was as far as the reform agenda went. That is still the case. Xi Jinping’s work report to the 19th Party Congress was, literally, steady as we go. No surprises, no change of direction.Our correspondent on Chinese politics, Dr John Lee of the University of Sydney, laid out Xi Jinping's domestic political agenda in detail for us in his contribution to our 2014 report China: Game of Thrones. We present an abridged version of John's assessment of more than three years ago - it was insightful then and has been correct in its analysis since. If you want to understand the ‘core’ leader's core values, and what we should expect to unfold over the next five years, it is well worth a read. 

China: Ascent of the King