US Economics Update Stimulus is big, but we won’t be revising our forecasts Although Democrats are close to securing passage of nearly all the $1.9trn originally requested by President Joe Biden in his American Rescue Plan, which is significantly more than the $1trn in... 6th March 2021 · 4 mins read
UK Economics Weekly Big fiscal boost when economy weak, smaller drag when it’s stronger The measures announced in this week’s Budget support the economy when it is most in need and are a smaller drag once the economy is more able to deal with it. As a result, there is an upside to our... 5th March 2021 · 7 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Korea’s latest fiscal stimulus, Philippines inflation Korea today announced that it was stepping up its support for the economy with a new supplementary budget worth 15trn won (around 0.8% of GDP). Government spending this year is now set to be 3% higher... 5th March 2021 · 5 mins read
China Economics Update The NPC: Taking away the punch bowl The reports delivered at today’s opening of the National People’s Congress (NPC) confirm that with the COVID-19 downturn now in the rear-view mirror the focus of China’s leadership has shifted away... 5th March 2021 · 5 mins read
UK Economics Budget 2021 – Filling the fiscal hole While most governments are focussed squarely on maintaining or increasing fiscal support for their economies, in today’s Budget the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, adopted a different two-staged plan for the... 3rd March 2021 · 11 mins read
China Economics Update Planning to do it alone The 14 th Five-Year Plan should provide a revealing view of the key challenges that China’s leadership believes it faces. High among them is a more hostile global environment. In the economic sphere... 3rd March 2021 · 3 mins read
Japan Economics Update Fiscal support not quite as large as most think The fiscal support that Japan’s government provided during the pandemic wasn’t as large as headline figures suggest. Accordingly, the withdrawal of stimulus will be a smaller headwind to the economy... 2nd March 2021 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Chart Pack Wage growth near its trough Labour markets in both countries have tightened in recent months. In Australia, the unemployment rate has fallen from a peak of 7.1% to just 6.4% in January. And other measures of spare capacity have... 1st March 2021 · 11 mins read
US Economics Weekly Fed doubles down on its new policy framework Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s testimony to Congress – together with similarly-dovish speeches from key Board members this week – underlined the Fed’s new commitment to the full employment side of its... 26th February 2021 · 7 mins read
Global Economics Update The global implications of more US fiscal stimulus If passed in full, President Biden’s $1.9tn American Rescue Plan would constitute a fiscal stimulus worth 1.4% of global GDP, coming hot off the heels of the $900bn deal struck in December. While a... 24th February 2021 · 4 mins read
China Economics Update Hong Kong sustains fiscal support Hong Kong has curtailed some of last year’s emergency spending but today’s budget signals that fiscal policy remains loose. There is room to do more, but the key determinant of the economic outlook is... 24th February 2021 · 3 mins read
India Chart Pack Activity returning to pre-virus levels Indian GDP data due to be released on Friday are likely to show only a small contraction in annual growth in Q4 2020, and high-frequency indicators point to a relatively strong start to 2021. Indeed... 24th February 2021 · 9 mins read
US Economics Focus How much stimulus is too much? Much of the recent discussion on whether the proposed $1.9trn fiscal stimulus, equivalent to nearly 9% of GDP, could be too big when the output gap is closer to 3%, has glossed over the fact that the... 23rd February 2021 · 15 mins read
Japan Economics Update Wider tolerance band wouldn’t signal tighter policy The Bank of Japan is likely to widen the tolerance band around its 10-year yield target next month. The last time this happened, many saw it – wrongly in our view – as a form of policy tightening. It... 23rd February 2021 · 3 mins read
Japan Chart Pack GDP will soon be back at pre-virus path The strong rise in output in Q4 2020 to just 1.2% below Q4 2019 levels bolsters our view that Japan’s economy will be back to the level it reached before the tax hike and close to its pre-virus path... 22nd February 2021 · 10 mins read
Latin America Economics Weekly Mexico’s blackouts, Argentine policymaking woes The energy crisis in Texas has led to power outages across Mexico this week, particularly in the northern manufacturing heartland, which we estimate may knock about 5% off industrial production this... 19th February 2021 · 5 mins read
