Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Does the Gulf's foreign exchange policy still makes sense? Concerns that the dollar is set to weaken further has reignited the debate on the dollar peg in the Gulf, which if abandoned would allow the region’s central banks to take control of monetary policy... 18th June 2011 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Update SNB strikes a dovish tone As expected, the Swiss National Bank left its interest rate target unchanged at today’s meeting. With the Bank striking a slightly more downbeat tone in its statement and the Swiss franc’s strength... 16th June 2011 · 1 min read
Global Markets Update New forecasts for the US dollar We have revised our expectation of a large rebound in the value of the dollar. Although we still think some appreciation against the other “majors” is likely by the end of next year, we now forecast... 16th June 2011 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Euro's unwanted strength heightens break-up dangers Our expectation that the euro would fall against the US dollar as the fiscal crisis deepened has not been borne out and we now expect the euro to stay higher for longer. But this unwanted strength... 16th June 2011 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Focus Can strong growth save the euro? The recent strength of the euro-zone economy has masked widening divergences within the region. And with even in the core economies set to slow over the coming quarters, it would be wrong to expect... 31st May 2011 · 1 min read
Global Markets Update Yen likely to weaken sharply again The renewed appreciation of the yen over the past month has encouraged speculation that the Japanese currency will revisit the post-war record intraday high of 76.25 to the dollar seen on 17th March... 11th May 2011 · 1 min read
China Economics Update Thaw in US-China relations unlikely to last Today’s economic discussions between China and the US are taking place in an atmosphere of unusual warmth. There are two obvious reasons – the fall in China’s trade surplus and the renminbi’s recent... 9th May 2011 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Focus Does Emerging Europe need the euro? In contrast to the prevailing consensus, we believe that there is compelling evidence to suggest that the preservation of sovereign currencies – as opposed to euro-adoption – offers the best route to... 5th May 2011 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Focus Is the euro doomed to fail? The deepening problems in the euro-zone’s peripheral economies beg the question of whether the single currency union is doomed to fail. If failure means that it does not survive and prosper in its... 27th April 2011 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Will the euro ever fall? The further rise in the euro against the US dollar, in the face of speculation that a euro-zone country might default on its debts in the foreseeable future, might seem to indicate that the single... 25th April 2011 · 1 min read
Global Markets Outlook The end of QE2 – expect the unexpected As growth slows and inflation subsides, expectations of higher interest rates in the major developed economies should be scaled back significantly. The end of QE2 in the US should neither rattle... 20th April 2011 · 1 min read
China Economics Update A policy shift on the renminbi China appears to be on the verge of allowing faster currency appreciation in response to inflation . This may not last long if inflation drops back in the second half of the year, as we expect. For... 19th April 2011 · 1 min read
China Economics Update People's Bank still intervening heavily China may have recorded a trade deficit last quarter but the pace of its intervention to hold down the renminbi barely slowed. Meanwhile, a rebound in lending last month is consistent with our view... 14th April 2011 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Why are default concerns not hitting the euro? Increased concerns that one or more peripheral euro-zone countries may default on their debts have so far had remarkably little impact on the value of the euro. But there are reasons why the currency... 28th March 2011 · 1 min read
Japan Chart Pack Economy fragile even before disaster struck Recent economic data releases have of course been overtaken by the tragedy of the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on 11 th March. This edition of our monthly chart book has therefore turned out... 24th March 2011 · 1 min read
Global Markets Update Tokyo calling Finance Ministers from the G7 are due to discuss the economic and market implications of the Japanese earthquake on a conference call beginning at 7am Tokyo time tomorrow. Given the scale of the... 17th March 2011 · 1 min read
