Europe Economics Weekly Greek crisis and falling oil price strengthen case for QE We disagree with speculation that the resurgence of the Greek crisis and the fall in the oil price have reduced the chance of quantitative easing. Indeed, we think that both factors have increased the... 12th December 2014 · 1 min read
Commodities Update How low must oil prices fall to choke off shale supply? Although $60 per barrel is a fair long-run estimate, there is no single “magic number” for the oil price below which enough North American production becomes unprofitable for supply cuts to start to... 12th December 2014 · 1 min read
Latin America Data Response Mexico Industrial Production (Oct.) Another fall in mining output meant that Mexican industrial production growth was weaker-than-expected in October. But the bigger picture is that the rest of the industrial sector continued to perform... 12th December 2014 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Small-cap equities may not lag behind for long The unusual gap that has opened up between the economic performance of small firms and the performance of small-cap equity indices is more likely to be closed by a rise in equity prices. After all... 12th December 2014 · 1 min read
India Data Response Consumer Prices (Nov.) & Industrial Production (Oct.) Today’s data show that consumer price inflation dropped to its slowest pace on record in November. With the latest numbers also showing continued weakness in industrial output, the case for policy... 12th December 2014 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Euro-zone Industrial Production (Oct.) & Employment (Q3) Euro-zone industrial data for October and employment figures for Q3 confirmed that, even before the resurgence of the Greek crisis and associated political and economic uncertainty, underlying... 12th December 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Economics Focus Ten key questions for EMs in 2015 The slump in oil prices and renewed falls in EM currencies over the past month have rekindled fears over the outlook for emerging markets. In this Focus we outline the ten key issues that we think... 12th December 2014 · 1 min read
UK Economics Update Rising interest bill may prevent easing of austerity plans The colossal downward revision to the OBR’s forecast for interest payments in the Autumn Statement highlighted that the amount of austerity needed to attain a budget surplus is very sensitive to... 12th December 2014 · 1 min read
China Data Response Bank Lending & Broad Credit (Nov.) Bank lending came in much stronger than most had anticipated last month but the bigger picture is that credit growth overall remains on a downward path. 12th December 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Ruble sell-off sparks fears of more radical policy action The ruble has continued to fall in spite of the rise in Russian interest rates, raising speculation that capital controls may be introduced. While we wouldn’t rule these out, we still think they are... 12th December 2014 · 1 min read
Canada Chart Pack Lower oil prices will hold back economy The slump in the crude oil prices to around US$60 per barrel is a serious threat to domestic business investment and future oil production. With the long-run breakeven cost of most oil sands projects... 12th December 2014 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Expectations for world grain & soybean output rise again The outlook for global grain and soybean production has received a further boost, with the USDA upgrading its production estimates for the 2014/15 season. Assuming no severe supply-shocks, we think... 12th December 2014 · 1 min read
China Data Response Fixed investment, industrial output, retail sales (Nov.) Today’s activity and spending data from China show that property and industry continue to face headwinds. The credit data, just released, suggest policymakers are taking a somewhat more supportive... 12th December 2014 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Interest rates in Chile and Peru to fall further in 2015 Interest rates in Chile were left unchanged at 3.00% last night but, with the economic recovery expected to be slow-going and inflation likely to have peaked, we are sticking to our non-consensus... 12th December 2014 · 1 min read
US Economics Update Recovery not being driven by a new credit boom The Federal Reserve's third-quarter financial accounts help to dispel two myths about the recovery. First, the pick-up in GDP growth over the past few quarters is not being driven by a renewed boom in... 11th December 2014 · 1 min read
EM Markets Chart Pack Are EM corporate bonds really that vulnerable? Since the end of October, emerging market dollar-denominated corporate bonds have performed much worse than comparably-rated US corporate bonds. This has been the result of increasing credit spreads... 11th December 2014 · 1 min read