US Economics Weekly Manufacturing slowly pulling out of slump Manufacturing appears to be slowly pulling out of its recent slump stemming from the big surge in the dollar in 2014 and 2015, with the ISM manufacturing index and manufacturing employment both... 6th January 2017 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Border adjustment proposal is equal parts genius and crazy The switch to a so-called ‘border adjustment’ system of corporate tax, which was included in the House Republicans’ ‘Better Way’ proposals earlier this year, is beginning to draw more attention in the... 22nd December 2016 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Fed will have to step up the pace of tightening next year The lack of a sustained acceleration in wage growth suggests the Fed will be in no rush to hike rates again early next year. The stagnation in productivity, however, means that even the current level... 16th December 2016 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly What explains the manufacturing sector’s decline? Despite claims that China is to blame for the five million manufacturing jobs lost since 2001, the evidence suggests that rapid productivity gains, driven by rising automation, have also played a... 9th December 2016 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Would a lower corporate tax rate boost economic growth? We are sceptical of the claim made last week by Donald Trump’s nominee for Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, that lowering taxes, particularly corporate taxes, will be enough to boost average annual... 2nd December 2016 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Could repealing Dodd-Frank boost the wider economy? With the Republicans maintaining control of both Houses of Congress, Donald Trump’s election victory has raised the prospect that the post-crisis Dodd-Frank Act, which overhauled the financial sector... 25th November 2016 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Trump: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The markets have convinced themselves that there is a major fiscal stimulus coming early next year, that a roll-back of regulation will boost the financial sector and that Trump will take a much... 18th November 2016 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly What does Trump’s win mean for fiscal policy and the Fed? As it stands now, our working assumption is that Trump and Congress will agree on a fiscal stimulus early next year, nearly all of it tax cuts, worth somewhere between $3trn and $5trn over the next... 11th November 2016 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Uncertainty will persist well past election day This week’s presidential election is now too close to call. Even in the aftermath of the FBI Director’s letter to Congress a week last Friday, Hillary Clinton still appears to hold a slim lead in the... 4th November 2016 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Fed likely to delay rate hike until December The markets are convinced that the Fed will stand pat at this week’s FOMC meeting, which concludes on Wednesday, and will instead raise interest rates at the final policy meeting of the year in mid... 28th October 2016 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly GDP growth boosted by strong export performance The third-quarter GDP figures, due for release late this week, could provide a further boost to Clinton’s chances of winning. Although if our estimate that GDP growth picked up to 2.5% annualised is... 21st October 2016 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Rising labour participation a dilemma for the Fed The marked slowdown in the rate at which the remaining slack in the labour market is being absorbed poses a big dilemma for the Fed. The standard unemployment rate has now been broadly unchanged at 5... 14th October 2016 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Election unlikely to cause major shift in fiscal policy At face value, there are substantial differences between the fiscal plans of the two presidential candidates. While Hillary Clinton’s policies would essentially maintain the status quo, Donald Trump’s... 7th October 2016 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Could the neutral rate be even lower? While the decline in the neutral real fed funds rate in recent years can be explained in part by the decline in potential GDP growth, there are other factors, including increased risk aversion, higher... 30th September 2016 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Fed telegraphs a December rate hike The Fed left its policy rate unchanged at between 0.25% and 0.50% at last week's FOMC meeting, but it appears to be firmly on track for a December hike. However, the fed funds rate is likely to... 23rd September 2016 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Markets still relatively sanguine about the election Hillary Clinton’s recent stumble, both figuratively and literally, appears to have thrown the US presidential election race wide open again. The conventional wisdom is that the markets could react... 16th September 2016 · 1 min read
