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
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Higher Sweden forecast, Denmark’s "Hamlet" moment The Swedish economy has proved remarkably resilient at the start of 2021, having surpassed its pre-virus level in March and surveys suggesting that it is powering ahead in Q2. Against this backdrop... 7th May 2021 · 6 mins read
Europe Economics Weekly ECB will shrug off temporary rise in price pressures Euro-zone business surveys published this week highlighted that many of the region’s manufacturers are struggling with supply shortages and logistical constraints and illustrated that the problem goes... 30th April 2021 · 7 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Riksbank to embrace partial QT in ‘23; Swiss KOF ? Despite revising its near-term GDP forecast higher on Tuesday, the Riksbank channelled its inner-Fed by reiterating that it is in no rush to tighten. That said, while repo rate rises are probably... 30th April 2021 · 5 mins read
Europe Economics Weekly Loose monetary policy keeping interest spending low There were no real surprises at this week’s ECB meeting, with policymakers doing little to push back against the increase in bond yields since March. But yields remain extremely low by historical... 23rd April 2021 · 9 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Swiss President to use his mojo, but not like BoJo After years of inaction, the recent round of Swiss-EU talks on a new bilateral “framework agreement” suggest there is finally some light at the end of the tunnel, which would help remove some economic... 23rd April 2021 · 6 mins read
Europe Economics Weekly Vaccine blues threaten to further delay recovery News that distribution of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine is being paused is another blow to Europe’s vaccination programme and reinforces our view that the euro-zone economy is unlikely to begin a... 16th April 2021 · 7 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly No AZ jabs please, we’re Danish The tide has turned against the AstraZeneca vaccine in Denmark and Norway and fewer available vaccine doses could delay the rollouts in the Nordics, potentially by several months. At this stage, we... 16th April 2021 · 4 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Switzerland gets a clean report card from the IMF The support voiced by the IMF for the SNB’s policies following the latest Article IV consultation with Switzerland provides further cover, if needed, for the Bank to push back against accusations of... 9th April 2021 · 5 mins read
Europe Economics Weekly Business surveys overstating strength of the economy The strength of the euro-zone’s business surveys has not been matched by the official data, and with tighter restrictions being imposed for longer in many countries the level of output is likely to... 9th April 2021 · 6 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Manufacturing to cushion blow from rising virus cases The spaghetti-tree hoax of 1957, which centred on a Swiss family harvesting spaghetti, is widely regarded as one of the most successful April Fools’ jokes, but Swiss manufacturers are far too busy at... 1st April 2021 · 5 mins read
Europe Economics Weekly Falling behind on vaccines, stimulus While European manufacturing output is recovering strongly, tougher coronavirus restrictions announced in France and Italy this week have underlined that a sustained and broad-based economic rebound... 1st April 2021 · 7 mins read