A fascinating discussion a few weeks ago in welling@weeden with Albert Edwards and James Montier of Société Générale is republished below with the necessary permission.

“In the cacophony that is global investment strategy research, Albert Edwards (below left) and James Montier (right) stand out as clearly distinctive voices. And not merely because of their British accents or because they’ve tended to the decidedly bearish side of the scale over the last decade or so.

“Despite long tenure in the rarified top echelons of the investment banking world, for many years with Dresdner Kleinwort and more recently at Société Générale (where they are co-heads of global cross asset strategy) both have managed to retain a natural plain-spoken bluntness.

“Also