Nordic & Swiss Economics Löfven exits the stage (not pursued by a bear) The resignation of Prime Minister Stefan Löfven in Sweden has added to the period of political uncertainty in Sweden. That said, the other leading political actors would probably struggle to pass... 2nd July 2021 · 5 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Riksbank to stay on hold; Swiss Saturday Night Fever With the Swedish economy going great guns but little sign of inflationary trouble on the horizon, we expect the Riksbank to maintain the status quo at its policy meeting next Thursday. Otherwise, the... 25th June 2021 · 5 mins read
Europe Economics Weekly EZ economy bounces back, but ECB doves hold sway The uniformly strong surveys for June suggest that the euro-zone economy is recovering at a decent pace from the lockdowns earlier in the year. That might prompt some re-opening inflation – data next... 25th June 2021 · 8 mins read
Europe Economics Weekly Euro-zone on the rebound Football fans will not need to be told that life is still not quite back to normal in Europe as the stadiums are less than half full and “Euro 2020” is taking place a full year late. But in many... 18th June 2021 · 6 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Riksbank might rethink; Swedish gov’t on the brink Against the backdrop of a red-hot housing market, the Riksbank might draw inspiration from the Swedish football team, which embodied one of the ideals of central banking in its opening Euro 2020 game... 18th June 2021 · 4 mins read
Europe Economics Weekly Growth outlook improving, but ECB too optimistic The euro-zone’s growth outlook is improving thanks to the acceleration in the vaccine rollout and the re-opening of the economy. However, we were surprised at the size of the upward revision to the... 11th June 2021 · 6 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly No inflation scare in Scandinavia or Switzerland… If there is a global inflation scare, the Scandinavians are yet to get the memo. In a week when we learnt that core inflation hit a 28-year high in the US in May, we also learnt that the core... 11th June 2021 · 4 mins read
Europe Economics Weekly ECB likely to look through rising inflation May’s inflation data were a little stronger than we and the consensus had expected, and inflation looks set to keep rising in the second half of the year. At next week's ECB meeting, we think that... 4th June 2021 · 5 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Riksbank not marvelling at proposed Act changes While many of the changes in the new proposed Riksbank Act are benign, the Bank argues with some merit that the new legislation would make it more difficult for it to use its balance sheet during... 4th June 2021 · 7 mins read
Europe Economics Weekly Drop back in bond yields takes pressure off ECB The fall in sovereign bond yields over the past week may make things a little easier for the ECB Governing Council when it meets on 10 th June. We think it is likely to replace its commitment to make... 28th May 2021 · 8 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Swiss seven-year itch; lots to ponder at the Riksbank The breakdown of the Swiss/EU Treaty talks has taken the headlines this week, but the Swiss economy appears to be galloping ahead in any case. While the belated release of Q1 GDP data next week is... 28th May 2021 · 5 mins read
Europe Economics Weekly Summer tourism a step closer, ECB unruffled by yields The chances of a vaguely normal summer tourism season increased this week after European policymakers agreed on proposals to allow fully vaccinated tourists to travel to the EU and increased the... 21st May 2021 · 5 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Denmark nears normality, but the pigs are porkier The Danish economy made a weak start to the year, but the fact that the economy has now almost fully re-opened means that output is likely to come roaring back in the second quarter. The KOF Economic... 21st May 2021 · 4 mins read
Europe Economics Weekly Bond markets testing the ECB The account of April’s ECB meeting (published on Friday) reiterated that policymakers intended to preserve favourable financing conditions, but bond yields have continued to rise since then. That... 14th May 2021 · 6 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly A lexical examination of the Riksbank’s minutes The minutes of the Riksbank’s April meeting illustrate the extent to which the housing market has forced its way on to policymakers’ radar screens. The Bank is clearly of the view that the financial... 14th May 2021 · 4 mins read
Europe Economics Weekly Economy re-opening again With the economic and vaccine data having improved in recent weeks we have nudged up our forecasts for economic growth this year. Meanwhile, European governments have handed in their recovery plans to... 7th May 2021 · 5 mins read