Frontier Markets Wrap European frontiers vulnerable to mounting threat of “Grexit” The growing threat of a Greek exit from the euro-zone has cast a shadow over the outlook for European frontier markets. Admittedly, the reaction in financial markets has so far been muted. And the... 25th June 2015 · 1 min read
US Employment Report Preview Model points to another big gain in payrolls Our econometric model points to a 290,000 gainin non-farm payrolls in May and, as a result, wealso expect the unemployment rate to edge downto 5.4%. 25th June 2015 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update South Africa: Tackling unemployment requires structural reform South Africa’s official unemployment rate hit a ten year high of 26.4% in Q1 2015, hammering home the scale of the country’s jobs challenge. Indeed unemployment in the country is more widespread than... 25th June 2015 · 1 min read
China Economics Update Scrapping the loan-to-deposit ratio won’t boost bank lending A new proposal to do away with the loan-to-deposit ratio won’t relax the primary constraints on bank lending. It should, however, mean that a greater share of lending is directed towards smaller and... 24th June 2015 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Without major debt relief, a Greek deal won’t end crisis While a deal between Greece and its creditors may finally emerge in the next few days, it still looks unlikely to include the substantial debt relief needed to end the crisis and eliminate the risk of... 24th June 2015 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response German Ifo Survey (Jun.) Although the Ifo survey points to an acceleration in Germany’s economy in Q2, its fall in June suggests that Greece’s crisis is starting to weigh on sentiment there. 24th June 2015 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Small Business Confidence (Jun.) Following the drop in the flash estimate of the manufacturing PMI, the fall in small business confidence in June adds to evidence that the economy slowed sharply in Q2. 24th June 2015 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Grexit might be unavoidable, but it need not be a crisis In 2012, Capital Economics won the Wolfson Prize for our submission on how the exit from the eurozone of a small country like Greece might best be managed. Given the still significant risk that... 23rd June 2015 · 1 min read
UK Economics Update UK faces bigger external threats than a China slowdown The UK has become significantly more exposed in recent years to the Chinese economy, which has made a poor start to 2015. But this shouldn’t cause the UK economy too many problems – Greece remains by... 23rd June 2015 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Euro-zone Flash PMIs (Jun.) Amid the turmoil in Greece, June’s rise in the euro-zone PMI is encouraging. But the survey also suggests that the euro-zone recovery did not pick up much steam in Q2 and that there are clear risks to... 23rd June 2015 · 1 min read
Global Markets Update What explains the recovery in the euro? Despite the crisis in Greece the euro remains near multi-week highs against the dollar. Some have suggested that the euro has actually benefited from the uncertainty, due to the unwinding of short... 22nd June 2015 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Capital controls likely, but they can’t prevent Grexit Accelerating deposit outflows from Greek banks and the ECB’s reluctance to fill the gap with further emergency loans have increased the likelihood that capital controls are imminent. We discuss the... 19th June 2015 · 1 min read
UK Economics Weekly Grexit risks highlight need for MPC to nurture recovery The odds of Greece defaulting on its debt, and possibly exiting the euro-zone too, seem to be growing by the day. However, as we have stressed before, the UK’s direct economic and financial exposures... 19th June 2015 · 1 min read
DM Valuations Monitor Treasuries vulnerable to a reassessment of Fed policy The path of the federal funds rate that is implied by the yields of US Treasuries is much gentler than the one that we project. This leads us to forecast that the 10-year yield will end 2015 higher... 19th June 2015 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Another scary peek at Greece’s debt dynamics A look at Greece’s debt outlook using plausible economic assumptions underlines the inevitability of a substantial form of default, inside or outside the euro-zone. 18th June 2015 · 1 min read
UK Economics Update Pension reforms giving small boost to spending The Chancellor’s announcement regarding the amount of money withdrawn from pensions since the new freedoms took effect in April supports our view that the changes will provide a boost, but a... 18th June 2015 · 1 min read