Global liquidity
The overall supply of money and credit available worldwide, which determines how easily risky assets can be financed.
How to read the number
It is set by the largest central banks and by the state of dollar funding: when dollars get dearer and harder to borrow, risky markets contract first.
When the metric lies
There is no direct gauge. The proxies used — central bank balance sheets, credit spreads, the cost of currency swaps — do not always agree with one another.
Also known as: world liquidity