Europe Data Response Euro-zone Flash CPI (Sep.) September’s rise in euro-zone CPI inflation will not help to ease the pressure on households. Nonetheless, the increase is unlikely to mark the start of a sustained upward trend. 28th September 2012 · 1 min read
ECB Watch Providing little more clarity on OMTs Having been lauded as being “as mighty as the Fed” after unleashing a policy “bazooka” in the form of the Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT) programme in September, the ECB is unlikely to announce... 27th September 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Euro-zone Monetary Indicators Monitor (Aug.) The latest monetary data provide no encouragement about the outlook for the eurozone. Lending to the private sector has continued to fall and the boost to banks’ lending to governments generated by... 27th September 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Commercial Property Update Cheap relative rents driving Frankfurt retail occupier appeal Recent evidence shows that the Frankfurt retail market is seeing very strong occupier demand. But this demand seems to be driven more by the low level of Frankfurt retail rents relative to the... 27th September 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Euro-zone EC Survey (Sep.) September’s European Commission business and consumer survey served as another warning that the euro-zone economy is sinking into a deep recession and underlined the need for broader policy support... 27th September 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Spain still faces major obstacles The unveiling of the 2013 budget and the publication of the audit of the banking system later this week could potentially boost sentiment towards Spain and pave the way for a bail-out deal to be... 26th September 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Euro-zone Fiscal Monitor (Sep.) Further signs of fiscal slippage suggest that peripheral euro-zone governments will fall short of their ambitious budget deficit targets for this year. 26th September 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Focus What are the lessons of historical devaluations for Greece? The experience of economies which have undergone major currency depreciations in the past suggests that a return to the drachma would kick start a Greek economic recovery. Provided that Greece adopted... 25th September 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Commercial Property Update Amsterdam headline office rents still insulated by incentives Increased use of rental incentives seems to have had a powerful dampening effect on the response of headline office rents in Amsterdam to swings – both up and down – in the vacancy rate. The... 25th September 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response German Ifo Survey (Sep. 12) September’s fall in the German Ifo business survey is a reminder that even the euro-zone’s strongest economies are suffering from a severe economic downturn. 24th September 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Spain's waiting game is a risky one So far at least, the Spanish Government’s decision to delay seeking a bail-out does not seem to have backfired. After all, Spanish government bond yields remain low by recent standards. But the... 24th September 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Commercial Property Focus In which German city is the office rental outlook best? Over the next five years we think that, with regard to the outlook for rental values, the composition of its occupier base and its low level of rental values means that, on average, Frankfurt is... 20th September 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Euro-zone Flash PMIs (Sep. 12) The fall in the flash euro-zone composite purchasing managers’ index (PMI) in September is another reminder that the ECB’s new asset purchase programme is not an answer to all of the region’s problems... 20th September 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response German ZEW Survey (Sep. 12) September’s rise in ZEW investor sentiment was broadly encouraging, but the index remains consistent with a sharp deterioration in German economic activity. We still see GDP falling by about 1.0% next... 18th September 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Will the ECB follow the Fed? With the launch of QE3, the Federal Reserve has clearly trumped the ECB’s conditional pledge to make sterilised bond purchases. Similar action is warranted in the euro-zone and technically feasible... 17th September 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Further glimmers of hope Last week’s developments bolstered hopes that the euro-zone has finally reached a “turning point”. Indeed, given the further falls in peripheral government bond yields, some optimists even questioned... 17th September 2012 · 1 min read
