Global Economics Rapid Response Trump imposes alternative 10% global tariff under Section 122 In a hastily-arranged press conference to respond to the Supreme Court’s ruling that his IEEPA-related reciprocal tariffs were illegal, President Trump has announced that he will instead be imposing a... 20th February 2026 · 2 mins read
Canada Economics Weekly Trade reorientation away from US has a distance to go Today’s ruling that Donald Trump’s use of IEEPA tariffs was illegal will not deter policymakers in Ottawa from continuing to prioritise the reorientation of trade flows toward other markets, with... 20th February 2026 · 5 mins read
US Economics Weekly IEEPA ruling unlikely to pull PCE inflation back to 2% The price data this week made for grim reading for the Fed, implying that core PCE inflation rose above 3% last month. The Supreme Court's tariff ruling could help to bring down goods prices in the... 20th February 2026 · 4 mins read
Capital Daily Stock market rotation is a warning of trouble ahead We doubt this year’s rotation in US equities will be heavily influenced by today’s ruling from SCOTUS that Donald Trump’s IEEPA tariffs are illegal, even if the president now tries to raise tariff... 20th February 2026 · 4 mins read
US Housing Market Rapid Response US New Home Sales (Nov. & Dec. 2025) New home sales remained solid in November and December, even as the downward march in mortgage rates paused for breath. Because sales are recorded at contract signing, they likely softened in January... 20th February 2026 · 2 mins read
Canada Rapid Response Canada Retail Sales (Dec. 2025) The unchanged level of retail sales volumes in December confirms that they fell over the quarter a whole, which would have dragged down goods consumption and contributed to the likely weak result for... 20th February 2026 · 2 mins read
US Rapid Response US GDP (Q4 2025) The government shutdown ended up being a much bigger drag on the economy than the Treasury’s data had suggested, with fourth-quarter GDP growth slowing to 1.4% annualised. Federal expenditure... 20th February 2026 · 2 mins read
UK Economics Weekly Youth unemployment cyclical not structural...for now Labour market data published this week has raised valid concerns about a structural rise in youth unemployment. But while it is too early to rule that out, the rise so far is not that much more than... 20th February 2026 · 4 mins read
UK Economics Rapid Response UK S&P Global Flash PMIs (Feb. 2026) February’s flash PMIs provides further signs of an encouraging start to the year for economic activity and suggests that inflationary pressures in the services sector increased a bit further. While we... 20th February 2026 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Rapid Response UK Public Finances & Retail Sales (Jan. 2026) The big reduction in public borrowing and surge in retail sales in January support other evidence that the economy started the year looking a lot healthier. This will give the Chancellor something... 20th February 2026 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly The case for back-to-back hikes by the RBA Data released this week continue to indicate that the Australian economy is running up against capacity constraints. The relatively modest pickup in wage growth last quarter belies the fact that unit... 20th February 2026 · 5 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly Looser fiscal policy has yet to manifest itself The large supplementary budget passed in November provided no discernible boost to public spending last quarter, which supports our long-held view that the government only recorded a minuscule budget... 20th February 2026 · 5 mins read
Japan Rapid Response Japan Flash PMIs (Feb. 26) With the composite PMI rising to a three-year high in February, the recent sluggishness in economic activity should be followed by a marked recovery in the first half of this year. 20th February 2026 · 2 mins read
Japan Rapid Response Japan Consumer Prices (Jan. 2026) With price pressures showing signs of softening, the Bank of Japan won’t be in a rush to resume its hiking cycle. However, we still believe conditions will be in place for the Bank to raise rates by... 20th February 2026 · 2 mins read
Canada Economics Update Glittering TSX unlikely to boost consumption by much There does not appear to have been any meaningful wealth effects on consumption from the skyrocketing TSX, partly because households have faced offsetting falls in house prices. We expect the TSX to... 19th February 2026 · 4 mins read
US Economics Update Will the AI buildout be inflationary or disinflationary? The evidence so far shows that the inflationary effects of stronger demand from the AI buildout remain narrow, whereas the disinflationary effects of stronger productivity growth already appear to be... 19th February 2026 · 5 mins read