UK Economics Weekly Brexit polarises the outlook for interest rates The Bank of England’s harrowing assessment of the consequences of a “no deal ” Brexit grabbed the headlines this week. But it was designed to be an extreme scenario, and based on some implausible... 30th November 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Calm in Italy won’t last We think that this week’s decline in Italian bond yields will be reversed before long, weighing on the economy. Meanwhile, data released this week showed that core inflation in the euro-zone edged... 30th November 2018 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly The Powell put and Trump’s gut Fed Chair Jerome Powell's language earlier this week prompted some in the markets to claim he had taken a sudden dovish turn, possibly in response to pointed criticism from President Donald Trump. We... 30th November 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly BoT sounding hawkish, Trump renews auto tariff threat The hawkish minutes from the Bank of Thailand’s (BoT) November meeting reaffirm our view that the central bank will raise rates by 25bp at its December meeting. Meanwhile, the Korean government’s... 30th November 2018 · 1 min read
UK Data Response GfK/NOP Consumer Confidence (Nov.) The weak tone of GfK/NOP’s Consumer Confidence Survey in November suggests that Brexit uncertainty is starting to weigh more heavily on confidence, which sets the stage for slightly weaker consumer... 30th November 2018 · 1 min read
Global Economics Update G20…or Xi20? The most that can reasonably be hoped for from talks between Xi Jinping and Donald Trump at this weekend’s G20 meeting is an agreement which temporarily reduces US-China tensions. Meanwhile, the wider... 29th November 2018 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Focus Taking the Long View: Africa in 2040 African economies will probably remain among the fastest-growing in the world over the coming decades. But slow productivity growth will prevent convergence with high income countries. Indeed, we... 29th November 2018 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Oil slump and output cuts, Egypt’s IMF deal The recent slump in oil prices is unlikely to cause major economic ructions in the Gulf, although it does look like policymakers will push ahead with an oil output cut at next week’s OPEC meeting... 29th November 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Chart Pack Inflation set to fall sharply The recent slump in crude oil prices means that the tailwind to consumer price inflation from soaring energy prices won’t be sustained. After boosting Australia’s headline inflation by 0.6 percentage... 29th November 2018 · 1 min read
UK Economics Update Government’s Brexit report highlights cost of no deal Not surprisingly, the Government report, published today, on the long-run economic impact of various Brexit scenarios is probably a little too pessimistic about the fallout from a no deal Brexit, but... 28th November 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update No deal Brexit hit to euro-zone would be manageable Provided that it is reasonably orderly, a “no deal Brexit” would probably reduce economic activity in the euro-zone by 0.1-0.2% points next year, though the impact would be much larger for Ireland... 28th November 2018 · 1 min read
UK Economics Update Brexit scenarios – a recap This week the Bank of England and HM Treasury will publish forecasts for the economy based on both the “deal” between the UK and the EU agreed on Sunday, and a “no deal, no transition” alternative. As... 27th November 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response German Ifo Survey (Nov.) November’s fall in the Ifo Business Climate Indicator (BCI) adds to evidence that the German economy is slowing, but suggests that the particular weakness of Q3 will not be repeated at the end of the... 26th November 2018 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Weekly Amlo’s referendums, Colombia’s fiscal challenge The market reaction to the incoming Mexican government’s public consultation is unlikely to be as bad as the last one, which voted to scrap a flagship airport project. Even so, it provides more... 23rd November 2018 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Weekly Oil and inflation, Ghosn and corporate governance The slump in global oil prices will deliver a windfall to Japanese firms and households but it creates a headache for the Bank of Japan: lower energy prices will knock half a percentage point off... 23rd November 2018 · 1 min read
UK Economics Weekly All Brexit options still on the table A rejection of the Brexit deal in Parliament in mid-December remains a very real prospect. And we would not rule anything out amidst the political chaos that would follow. In our predictions based on... 23rd November 2018 · 1 min read