Asia Economics Weekly Mr Modi’s "first 100 days" prove underwhelming India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is approaching the end of his first hundred days in office on 3rd September with a worrying sense of drift rather than direction. Hopes that he would make a... 22nd August 2014 · 1 min read
US Economics Update Yellen stands her ground on slack If the release of the minutes of July’s FOMC meeting on Wednesday suggested that the Fed had takentwo steps closer to raising interest rates, then today’s speech by Fed Chair Janet Yellen at Jackson... 22nd August 2014 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Is recent euro-zone weakness down to the Ukraine crisis? The latest falls in business confidence and the weakness of euro-zone exports seem to relate partly to the effects of the Ukraine crisis and could therefore be fairly short-lived. But there is a risk... 22nd August 2014 · 1 min read
UK Economics Weekly Will the rebels muster a majority soon? Past experience suggests that the emergence of a minority vote to raise interest rates at August’s MPC meeting is unlikely to have brought the first rate hike any closer. For a start, minority votes... 22nd August 2014 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Recovery in small business lending to gather pace The main reason why the stock of loans to small businesses has yet to surpass its previous peak is because weak sales have restrained the demand for new borrowing. The recent rise in the NFIB small... 22nd August 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Drop in oil prices underscores Russia’s vulnerabilities The fall in oil prices over the past month poses another headwind for Russia’s struggling economy. The drop in prices is unlikely to have a major bearing on the outlook for the rest of this year –... 22nd August 2014 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Economic damage of Argentine default growing With hopes of a swift resolution to the Argentine debt dispute fading, capital flight appears to be picking up. As a result, the damage to the real economy is likely to be greater than we had... 22nd August 2014 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Weekly How much of a threat is “hollowing out”? The conventional wisdom is that Japan’s firms have increasingly shifted production facilities abroad in recent years, resulting in a “hollowing out” of the country’s domestic manufacturing sector. But... 22nd August 2014 · 1 min read
China Activity Monitor Economy loses momentum coming into Q3 Our China Activity Proxy (CAP) adds to evidence elsewhere that growth slowed in July after a strong end to Q2. Construction of affordable housing has helped shore up activity in the property sector... 22nd August 2014 · 1 min read
Global Economics Update Global economy too reliant on the US Preliminary business surveys for August, which were published by Markit today, suggest that growthcontinues to be sluggish in Japan and the euro-zone and that China’s economy is slowing. In contrast... 21st August 2014 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Data Response Existing Home Sales (Jul.) The unexpected gain in existing home sales in July extends the run of rising sales to four months. Recent falls in mortgage interest rates and the steadily improving labour market mean that the... 21st August 2014 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update South African markets shrug off bank downgrades South African markets appear to have taken the collapse of African Bank and the subsequent decision by Moody’s to downgrade the ratings of the country’s four largest banks in their stride. Local... 21st August 2014 · 1 min read
Global Markets Update Foreign appetite for EM assets continues to grow Despite ongoing geopolitical tensions and the prospect of a shift in Fed policy, emerging market equities are on track to outperform developed market equities for the second quarter in a row. Their... 21st August 2014 · 1 min read
UK Economics Chart Pack Spending growth strong despite weak earnings The prospects look bright for a continued solid recovery in consumer spending. Although we do notknow yet what happened to overall consumer spending in Q2, the available data on retail sales... 21st August 2014 · 1 min read
