Asia Economics Update Korea-US trade deal good for both sides The amendments in the Korea-US free trade deal (KORUS) announced earlier this month have caused some protests in Korea, but the risk that the new arrangement is blocked by the National Assembly looks... 16th December 2010 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Update Swedish Riksbank signals more rate hikes to come The Swedish Riksbank responded to the recent strong economic data by raising interest rates today for the fourth time since July. But while further rate hikes are inevitable, we expect monetary policy... 15th December 2010 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Tankan Survey (Dec.) The Bank of Japan's quarterly Tankan survey confirmed that the recovery is fading, with small businesses struggling and investment demand still weak. 15th December 2010 · 1 min read
US Economics Update Fed sticks to its guns The Fed was always going to leave the size of the second round of quantitative easing (QE2) unchanged today as it is too soon to judge whether it has been a success or a failure. If we are right in... 15th December 2010 · 1 min read
Canada Data Response Monthly Survey of Manufacturing (Oct.) Manufacturing sales increased a tad stronger than we expected, though not enough to change our view on fourth-quarter GDP growth in the range of 1.5% to 2%. Indeed, looking through the monthly... 15th December 2010 · 1 min read
US Data Response Consumer Prices & Industrial Production (Nov.) Consumer price inflation remained unusually weak in November and, given the large amount of excess capacity in America's economy, we expect it to continue trending gradually lower over the next couple... 15th December 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Sri Lanka’s upswing set to stay strong Data released today showed that Sri Lanka’s economy expanded at a slightly slower pace in Q3. Nevertheless, the outlook remains upbeat. The central bank (CBSL) left policy rates unchanged yesterday... 15th December 2010 · 1 min read
Global Markets Update Chinese demand won't support commodity prices for ever Based on a plausible scenario for the evolution of the sustainable growth rate of the economy and the commodity-intensity of activity, China’s commodity demand in 2025 could be half the level that a... 15th December 2010 · 1 min read
UK Commercial Property Data Response Financial and business services sector jobs (Q3) The number of jobs in the financial & business services (FBS) sector rose again in Q2, taking the increase since the start of the year to 1.7%, or 104,000 jobs. We remain cautiously optimistic about... 15th December 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Swedish Riksbank signals more rate hikes to come The Swedish Riksbank responded to the recent strong economic data by raising interest rates today for the fourth time since July. But while further rate hikes are inevitable, we expect monetary policy... 15th December 2010 · 1 min read
UK Data Response UK Labour Market Data (Oct./Nov.) The recovery in the UK labour market appears to be flagging even before the public sector job cuts have really started. We still expect unemployment to rise fairly sharply over the next couple of... 15th December 2010 · 1 min read
Latin America Economic Outlook Outlook good but testing times lie ahead The outlook for Latin America remains good and, while the developed world will struggle to grow by 2% next year, we expect the region as a whole to grow by 4%. Brazil, Chile, Peru and Colombia will... 14th December 2010 · 1 min read
US Economics Update Monetary Indicators Monitor (Nov.) The rate of decline in our Capital Economics' measure of M3 has eased, while the growth rates of M1 and M2 have picked up again slightly. However, there is nothing here to suggest that inflation is... 14th December 2010 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Monetary policy to get creative in 2011 For much of Emerging Europe growth concerns continue to outweigh inflation worries. Accordingly, monetary policy will remain accommodative in most countries next year. The exception to this is Turkey... 14th December 2010 · 1 min read