Chief Economist's Note Group Chief Economist Neil Shearing gives his weekly take on the big issues in the global economy and highlights key analysis and events from Capital Economics Chief Economist's Note There’s a reason to worry about Chinese data – but it’s not deflation Having spent the past year worrying over runaway inflation in the major advanced economies, markets are now having to contend with the apparent threat of deflation in China. July’s 0.3% y/y fall in... 14th August 2023 Chief Economist's Note Revisiting the case for ‘immaculate disinflation’ As Europe and North America decamp for the beaches, an intense debate has broken out among economists. It was framed neatly in a Tweet a few weeks ago by Nobel-Laureate Paul Krugman: Put differently... 7th August 2023 Chief Economist's Note How to get a handle on AI’s many implications for economies and markets Towards the end of June, we raised our two-year forecasts for the S&P 500, advising clients that we now expect the benchmark to rise by around 50% between now and the end of 2025. It’s a bullish call... 10th July 2023 Chief Economist's Note ‘Greedflation’ debate muddles inflation’s symptoms with its cause It’s energising would-be trustbusters in the White House. It’s dragging UK supermarket bosses before Parliament. And, according to the IMF, it’s played a role in driving inflation across Europe... 3rd July 2023 Chief Economist's Note What Andrew Bailey could learn from the Hungarians about policymaking One of the truisms of macro investing is that central banks in emerging markets “follow the Fed”. Yet on the evidence of the past week, it is policymakers in the emerging world that are charting a... 26th June 2023 Chief Economist's Note The pandemic was no economic dry run for climate change A cartoon doing the rounds during the early days of the pandemic showed a series of waves poised to hit a city. The first, and smallest, was marked ‘COVID-19’, while the last – and much larger wave –... 19th June 2023 Chief Economist's Note This ‘weird’ economic cycle would have Harry Truman turning in his grave Harry Truman famously asked aides to find him a one-handed economist because all of his “‘say on the one hand this. . .’, but ‘on the other hand that. . .’”. The president’s quip has become synonymous... 12th June 2023 Chief Economist's Note Politically convenient, economically unsound – food price controls aren’t the answer It’s Political Economy 101 that if the cost of household staples rises for long enough then governments will reach for price controls. This is exactly what is starting to happen across Europe in... 30th May 2023 Chief Economist's Note Whatever happened to the China “growth miracle”? Last week’s disappointing China economic releases were greeted by the usual calls for more stimulus to boost near-term growth. These are part of a long-standing tradition for when data undershoot... 22nd May 2023 Chief Economist's Note Where do we go from here? A flurry of data and policy announcements in recent weeks has provided more clarity about where the global economy is heading, even as it has highlighted some key risks to that outlook. Three things... 15th May 2023 Chief Economist's Note A more fractured world won’t dethrone the dollar Neil Shearing Group Chief Economist The past couple of months has seen an upsurge in the number of analysts arguing that the renminbi will start to challenge the dollar’s position as the world’s... 2nd May 2023 Chief Economist's Note The key to navigating a fragmented world is understanding the forces driving it According to ECB head Christine Lagarde, it threatens “lasting instability resulting in lower growth, higher costs and more uncertain trade partnerships”. The IMF warns it is “unlikely to achieve... 24th April 2023 Capital View Commercial real estate’s threat to the banking sector is real So far at least, that’s what we’ve seen. CMBS spreads have blown out, with option-adjusted spreads on triple-B CMBS rising from just over 300 basis points in early 2022 to more than 900 bps last... 18th April 2023 Chief Economist's Note Reflections on ‘March Madness’ Neil Shearing Group Chief Economist The acute phase of last month’s banking crisis — which some, channelling the US College Basketball tournament, have dubbed “March Madness” — has passed. The sense... 17th April 2023 Chief Economist's Note Is commercial real estate the next shoe to drop? A degree of calm has returned to markets over the past week, but some sense of nervousness persists. The hunt is on for the next shoe to drop. Historically, problems in the property sector have been... 27th March 2023 Chief Economist's Note Market squall or global crisis? The three big questions from a tumultuous week Neil Shearing Group Chief Economist When things move as rapidly as they have done over the past week, it’s often difficult to see the wood for the trees. Although the situation is still in flux... 20th March 2023 Pagination Previous Page 1 Page 2 Current page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 … Next
Chief Economist's Note There’s a reason to worry about Chinese data – but it’s not deflation Having spent the past year worrying over runaway inflation in the major advanced economies, markets are now having to contend with the apparent threat of deflation in China. July’s 0.3% y/y fall in... 14th August 2023
Chief Economist's Note Revisiting the case for ‘immaculate disinflation’ As Europe and North America decamp for the beaches, an intense debate has broken out among economists. It was framed neatly in a Tweet a few weeks ago by Nobel-Laureate Paul Krugman: Put differently... 7th August 2023
Chief Economist's Note How to get a handle on AI’s many implications for economies and markets Towards the end of June, we raised our two-year forecasts for the S&P 500, advising clients that we now expect the benchmark to rise by around 50% between now and the end of 2025. It’s a bullish call... 10th July 2023
Chief Economist's Note ‘Greedflation’ debate muddles inflation’s symptoms with its cause It’s energising would-be trustbusters in the White House. It’s dragging UK supermarket bosses before Parliament. And, according to the IMF, it’s played a role in driving inflation across Europe... 3rd July 2023
Chief Economist's Note What Andrew Bailey could learn from the Hungarians about policymaking One of the truisms of macro investing is that central banks in emerging markets “follow the Fed”. Yet on the evidence of the past week, it is policymakers in the emerging world that are charting a... 26th June 2023
Chief Economist's Note The pandemic was no economic dry run for climate change A cartoon doing the rounds during the early days of the pandemic showed a series of waves poised to hit a city. The first, and smallest, was marked ‘COVID-19’, while the last – and much larger wave –... 19th June 2023
Chief Economist's Note This ‘weird’ economic cycle would have Harry Truman turning in his grave Harry Truman famously asked aides to find him a one-handed economist because all of his “‘say on the one hand this. . .’, but ‘on the other hand that. . .’”. The president’s quip has become synonymous... 12th June 2023
Chief Economist's Note Politically convenient, economically unsound – food price controls aren’t the answer It’s Political Economy 101 that if the cost of household staples rises for long enough then governments will reach for price controls. This is exactly what is starting to happen across Europe in... 30th May 2023
Chief Economist's Note Whatever happened to the China “growth miracle”? Last week’s disappointing China economic releases were greeted by the usual calls for more stimulus to boost near-term growth. These are part of a long-standing tradition for when data undershoot... 22nd May 2023
Chief Economist's Note Where do we go from here? A flurry of data and policy announcements in recent weeks has provided more clarity about where the global economy is heading, even as it has highlighted some key risks to that outlook. Three things... 15th May 2023
Chief Economist's Note A more fractured world won’t dethrone the dollar Neil Shearing Group Chief Economist The past couple of months has seen an upsurge in the number of analysts arguing that the renminbi will start to challenge the dollar’s position as the world’s... 2nd May 2023
Chief Economist's Note The key to navigating a fragmented world is understanding the forces driving it According to ECB head Christine Lagarde, it threatens “lasting instability resulting in lower growth, higher costs and more uncertain trade partnerships”. The IMF warns it is “unlikely to achieve... 24th April 2023
Capital View Commercial real estate’s threat to the banking sector is real So far at least, that’s what we’ve seen. CMBS spreads have blown out, with option-adjusted spreads on triple-B CMBS rising from just over 300 basis points in early 2022 to more than 900 bps last... 18th April 2023
Chief Economist's Note Reflections on ‘March Madness’ Neil Shearing Group Chief Economist The acute phase of last month’s banking crisis — which some, channelling the US College Basketball tournament, have dubbed “March Madness” — has passed. The sense... 17th April 2023
Chief Economist's Note Is commercial real estate the next shoe to drop? A degree of calm has returned to markets over the past week, but some sense of nervousness persists. The hunt is on for the next shoe to drop. Historically, problems in the property sector have been... 27th March 2023
Chief Economist's Note Market squall or global crisis? The three big questions from a tumultuous week Neil Shearing Group Chief Economist When things move as rapidly as they have done over the past week, it’s often difficult to see the wood for the trees. Although the situation is still in flux... 20th March 2023