Europe Economics Update Greek recession shows no signs of ending Q3’s GDP figures suggest that Greece is not yet benefitting from the modest economic revival in the euro-zone as a whole and we continue to think that the economic forecasts on which its bail-out... 14th November 2013 · 1 min read
Europe Economic Outlook Growth prospects improve, but crisis unresolved The European economy has shown further signs of recovery, with the euro-zone finally emerging from recession in the second quarter and other parts of the continent also faring better. But growth in... 8th October 2013 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Are Greece’s privatisation targets flawed? A contentious component of the Greek bail-out package has been its privatisation programme. This Update summarises some of the views expressed at a panel discussion in which Ben May was involved at... 1st October 2013 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Will tourism kick-start a Greek economic recovery? Recent developments in Greece’s tourism sector suggest that the economy might record another quarterly rise in GDP in Q3. But even if this is the case, we suspect that this will not mark the start of... 17th September 2013 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Has Greece reached a turning point? The quarterly rise in Greek GDP in Q2 raises hopes that the economy has reached a turning point. But we doubt that Greece is now on the path to recovery and still think that further financial... 9th September 2013 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Germany to fund more than a third Greek bail-out? German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble’s acknowledgement last week that Greece needs more aid seemed like a statement of the obvious. Encouragingly, however the size of any new bail-out will be... 26th August 2013 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Troika’s Greek economic forecasts still look too optimistic The Greek GDP figures, which suggest that the economy may have expanded in Q2, confirm that Greece has benefitted from the recent period of relative calm and stability. But a strong and sustained... 12th August 2013 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Is another Greek election in the offing? While the withdrawal of the smallest party from the Greek coalition is certainly an unwelcome development, for now at least, the Government should be able to limp on. But if the Troika forces it to... 24th June 2013 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Greek bail-out appears safe...for now We doubt that the recent bout of political uncertainty, coupled with concerns over the Government’s ability to meet the privatisation targets set by the Troika, poses a serious near-term threat to... 18th June 2013 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Is the Troika learning from its mistakes? While the IMF conceded last week that mistakes were made in Greece’s 2010 bail-out programme, it suggested that earlier debt restructuring was the way forward rather than bigger bail-outs. Meanwhile... 10th June 2013 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Has Greece reached a turning point? The Q1 estimate of Greek GDP and the credit rating upgrade by Fitch suggests that the economy may finally be turning a corner. But we still think that the economic forecasts underpinning the rescue... 15th May 2013 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Euro-zone GDP (Q1) Q1’s flash euro-zone GDP estimate confirmed that while the euro-zone economy performed rather better in Q1 than Q4, it remained in recession. 15th May 2013 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Focus Would deflation lead the periphery into a debt trap? If the peripheral euro-zone economies regained competitiveness via outright deflation, their public and private sector debt levels would spiral higher as a share of GDP, prompting disaster. 30th April 2013 · 1 min read
Europe Commercial Property Update Have office property values reached a floor in Athens and Dublin? Ireland’s economy is still fragile, but occupier demand is unlikely to drop further. Thus reports of rising office values in Dublin in the first quarter may well prove a turning point. But Greek GDP... 25th April 2013 · 1 min read
Europe Economic Outlook The crisis continues Recent events in Italy, Cyprus and Portugal have put a dent in hopes that the three-year crisis in the euro-zone is finally drawing to a close. Meanwhile, previous tentative signs that the broader... 10th April 2013 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Are Greek economic prospects really improving? Recent news from Greece has provided tentative signs that the economic situation there is improving. But we still think that the economy will remain in recession for longer than the Troika expects and... 10th April 2013 · 1 min read