China Economics Update The view from the ground - Q3 2010 China’s businesses and banks are increasingly confident about the economic situation, but consumers are downbeat, preferring by a wide margin to save rather than spend. 20th September 2010 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus Will tighter regulation prevent a recovery in lending? The changes in the regulatory regime currently being decided are unlikely to be the key determinant of banks lending behaviour in the near-term. But tighter regulation threatens to choke off any... 13th September 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Banking worries continue to weigh on the periphery The recent slide in the euro and rise in peripheral bond yields appears to reflect renewed concerns about the health of the region’s banks. These concerns may only subside once the peripheral... 13th September 2010 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Machinery Orders, Bank Credit, & EWS Today's batch of data showed that machine orders were strong in July but bank credit figures for August and the current conditions index of last month's Economy Watchers Survey (EWS) were... 8th September 2010 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Residential loan losses may return to haunt banks Banks were back in the news last week, announcing the largest quarterly increase in net income since the recession began. This was mainly due to the first decline in the value of non-current loans... 6th September 2010 · 1 min read
UK Data Response Mortgage Lending (Jul.) The Bank of England’s mortgage lending statistics for July showed a marginal rise in both the value and volume of mortgages approved. However, the bigger picture is still of subdued activity in the... 31st August 2010 · 1 min read
UK Data Response Mortgage Lending (Jul.) The Bank of England’s mortgage lending statistics for July showed a marginal rise in both the value and volume of mortgages approved. However, the bigger picture is still of subdued activity in the... 31st August 2010 · 1 min read
UK Economics Update Monetary Indicators Monitor (Aug.) The pick-up in the Monetary Policy Committee’s preferred measure of money supply growth has continued to fade. With bank lending so weak, the improvement never looked likely to last. 31st August 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Korea's central bank has little reason to pause While today’s labour market data showed that Korea’s unemployment rate rose in July, the details of the report are encouraging. In addition, we believe that the policy rate is not the appropriate tool... 11th August 2010 · 1 min read
UK Economics Weekly Slow progress on bank lending The interim results published by the major UK banks last week showed that RBS and Lloyds are on track to meet their new lending commitments to the Government. But these lending targets have become... 9th August 2010 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Bank Credit & EWS (Jul.) The current conditions index of the Economy Watchers Survey (EWS) climbed back to a multi-year high in July. The survey raises some questions about the outlook, but, overall, its high level should be... 9th August 2010 · 1 min read
UK Data Response Mortgage Lending (Jun.) The subdued picture of lending activity was reinforced today as mortgage approvals for house purchase recorded their largest fall for five months. Although we doubt approvals will fall significantly... 29th July 2010 · 1 min read
UK Economics Update Monetary Indicators Monitor (Jul.) The recent pick-up in the Monetary Policy Committee’s favoured measure of the money supply may already be fading. Meanwhile, bank lending is still struggling to rise. 29th July 2010 · 1 min read
