Europe Economics Update Early loan repayment underlines Irish progress The agreement amongst European finance ministers over the weekend that Ireland can start early repayment of its IMF loan highlighted again the rapid improvement of market confidence in the peripheral... 16th September 2014 · 1 min read
UK Economics Update Irish lessons for an independent Scotland There is much that the Scots could learn from their Celtic neighbours. Irish independence is a story ofeventual, not immediate success. It took nearly 80 years for Irish per capita income to catch up... 12th September 2014 · 1 min read
Europe Commercial Property Update A positive outlook for Dublin retail property The latest data showing that Dublin’s employment and housing market recovery are running ahead of the rest of Ireland bode well for retail occupier demand in the Irish capital. And, with tight supply... 17th July 2014 · 1 min read
Europe Economic Outlook As good as it gets? While the European economic recovery probably picked up a bit of speed in the second quarter of the year, there are growing signs that Q2 was as good as it is likely to get. Activity indicators in the... 8th July 2014 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Ireland GDP (Q1) Ireland’s Q1 GDP figures suggest that the recovery is now gathering a decent amountof pace, which should help the country to tackle its debt problems. 3rd July 2014 · 1 min read
Europe Commercial Property Update Could improved transparency drive yield compression? Ireland, Portugal, Hungary and Romania all registered strong improvements in JLL’s 2014 Global RealEstate Transparency Index. As such, in these countries the scope for yields to narrow seems to... 2nd July 2014 · 1 min read
Europe Commercial Property Update Lisbon office rental values will not see a Dublin-style rebound Based on historical patterns alone, it might seem that there is ample scope for a strong rebound in rental values in both Dublin and Lisbon. Yet once other economic factors are taken into account, the... 18th June 2014 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Peripheral industry on its feet but not ready to run Industrial production is now expanding faster in the euro-zone’s periphery than in the core. While this reflects progress made towards restructuring in the peripheral economies, industry still faces... 16th June 2014 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly German engine can’t power euro-zone recovery While the German economy expanded by an impressive 0.8% in Q1, this failed to spur growth elsewhere in the euro-zone and the region's GDP rose by just 0.2%. Possible explanations for this are the fact... 19th May 2014 · 1 min read
Europe Commercial Property Update Is the outperformance of Dublin’s office market coming to an end? All sectors of the Dublin property market received a boost from tightening yields during the first quarter. However, while there seems scope for further yield compression in the retail and industrial... 23rd April 2014 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Negative rates are no silver bullet on their own A negative interest rate on banks' excess reserves at the ECB might have some effect on banks' behaviour and at least prove that the ECB is prepared to follow its dovish words with action. But it must... 21st April 2014 · 1 min read
Europe Economic Outlook Deflation dangers persist The recovery in the European economy appears to have picked up a bit of speed in the early months of 2014. The euro-zone now looks set to expand by 1% or more this year, a significant improvement on... 10th April 2014 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Stars still aligned for more ECB support Despite last week's stronger than expected euro-zone inflation figures, the combination of still very weak price pressures, the strong euro and recent falls in liquidity in the banking sector still... 3rd March 2014 · 1 min read
Europe Commercial Property Update Is Portugal the next Ireland? Some of the conditions that preceded Ireland’s strong investment market recovery a couple of years ago are now evident in Portugal. GDP is expanding at a decent rate, while the deficit reduction... 18th February 2014 · 1 min read
Europe Economic Outlook Deflation dangers cast shadow over recovery The European economy looks set for another year of weak growth in 2014, with the euro-zone likely to do little more than stagnate. Against that background, the European Central Bank (ECB) is likely to... 15th January 2014 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly The pitfalls in the euro-zone’s road to recovery Although our forecast for euro-zone GDP growth in 2014 of 0.5% is now only a little more downbeat than the consensus estimate, there remain plenty of risks that could yet derail the region's recovery... 6th January 2014 · 1 min read