Europe Data Response Euro-zone GDP (Q3), IP (Sep.) & Employment (Q3) Q3’s slowdown in euro-zone GDP growth partly reflected temporary factors, so we remain optimistic that the economy will perform better in the coming quarters. This would allow the ECB to push ahead... 14th November 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Data Response Central & Eastern Europe GDP (Q3) Faster GDP growth in Poland and Hungary reinforces our view that central banks in both countries will begin to tighten monetary policy over the coming quarters. 14th November 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response German GDP (Q3) The 0.2% quarterly fall in German GDP in Q3 partly reflected temporary factors, but will still serve as a warning to the ECB to bide its time before communicating any policy normalisation. 14th November 2018 · 1 min read
China Data Response Activity & Spending (Oct.) The October activity and spending data were mostly better than anticipated. But despite an uptick in industrial output and investment, we doubt that economic growth has bottomed out just yet. 14th November 2018 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response GDP (Q3 Preliminary) The slump in output in the third quarter probably reflects a number of natural disasters and the economy almost certainly returned to growth in Q4. Indeed, the near-term outlook is positive as... 14th November 2018 · 1 min read
Global Economics Focus A brief overview of 700 years of economic downturns The causes of economic downturns have changed over time, from harvest failures and wars, to monetary policy, oil shocks and financial crises. Looking ahead, we think the next major global downturn... 13th November 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Data Response Russia GDP (Q3 2018) The slowdown in Russian GDP growth in Q3, to 1.3% y/y, appears to have been driven by broad-based weakness across the economy. But the early signs are that growth will recover in Q4, and we still... 13th November 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Turkey: weaker lira softening the blow The sharp fall in the Turkish lira since the start of the year has pushed up inflation and caused financial conditions to tighten markedly, tipping the economy into recession. But there are signs that... 13th November 2018 · 1 min read
UK Economic Outlook Real income recovery to spur spending In our base case, which is predicated on a Brexit deal being secured and the UK entering into a status quo transition period, a further rise in real earnings should spur a recovery in consumer... 13th November 2018 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Update Norway’s economy to slow in 2019 Norway’s economic slowdown in Q3 reflected temporary factors. But growth still looks set to weaken next year as oil prices fall. So we expect the krone to weaken and the equity market to underperform. 13th November 2018 · 1 min read
India Economics Update State elections a test of BJP’s popularity Upcoming state elections in India will, as ever, have an important bearing on economic policy at the local level. They will also go some way to determining whether the ruling BJP will be able to gain... 13th November 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Focus Labor’s fiscal plans would strengthen case for low rates We estimate that Labor’s plans to tighten fiscal policy would dampen consumer spending by around 0.3 percentage points in both 2019 and 2020, shaving 0.2 percentage points off GDP in each of those... 13th November 2018 · 1 min read
US Economics Update Will housing drag the economy under again? The housing market is unlikely to cause another crisis as it did in 2007. But the slowdown in housing activity is a clear sign that the Fed’s interest rate hikes are starting to take their toll on the... 12th November 2018 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update What to make of Saudi Arabia’s push for oil output cuts Saudi Arabia’s push for a fresh round of oil output cuts isn’t a done deal and a sustained unilateral cut is unlikely. Even so, it adds to the evidence of a more erratic approach to oil policy under... 12th November 2018 · 1 min read
UK Economics Update Slower global growth won’t stop UK rebound Concern that increasing Brexit uncertainty is causing the economy to slow sharply, as indicated by the slide in the PMI survey, look overdone. Indeed, other indicators are less downbeat. And while... 12th November 2018 · 1 min read
UK Economics Weekly Growth slowing again, Brexit backstop bickering We don’t find the apparent slowdown in economic growth at the start of Q4 too worrying. After all, growth was always likely to ease as the boost to the retail sector from hot weather and the football... 9th November 2018 · 1 min read