Europe Economics Update Deflation could undermine fiscal consolidation Worries about euro-zone fiscal plans have centred mainly on governments’ overly optimistic forecasts for real GDP growth. But weaker inflation could also pose a problem for the region’s public... 23rd March 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Few signs of hope for the euro-zone’s periphery Developments of the past week have brought very little comfort for the euro-zone’s troubled periphery. There has been only limited progress on aid for Greece and the EC has reiterated the need for... 22nd March 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Commercial Property Update Has the Netherlands office market avoided a severe rental recession? Although Dutch office rental values have held up well to date, with low occupier confidence and a high volume of completions expected this year, we think the rental value correction has a little... 18th March 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Euro-zone fiscal squeeze far from over While worries about Greece’s fiscal position have recently eased somewhat, the EC’s latest assessments underline the need for a prolonged bout of fiscal consolidation right across the euro-zone over... 17th March 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response German ZEW Survey (Mar.) & Euro-zone Final CPI (Feb.) March’s fall in German ZEW investor sentiment confirms that confidence in the economic recovery remains fairly fragile. And with euro-zone CPI inflation still very subdued, the ECB is under no... 16th March 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Is the Greek crisis really over? Recent more positive developments in Greece have led to some suggestions that the Greek crisis is finally over. But Greece still has a number of major challenges. 15th March 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Weakening growth outlook is another headache for Greece For now, at least, Greece has persuaded the European Commission (EC) that it can meet its ambitious fiscal target for 2010. But the Greek crisis is far from over. Indeed, with the economy set to... 12th March 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Euro-zone Industrial Production (Jan.) The latest euro-zone industrial production figures provide some hope that the recovery in the wider economy has not ground to a complete halt. 12th March 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Portuguese double dip increases fiscal worries The second release relating to Portuguese GDP in Q4 last year revealed a downward revision to the quarterly change in output from the previously estimated zero to -0.2%. So after fairly robust growth... 11th March 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Italian GDP (Q4), Italian & French Industrial Production (Jan.) Q4’s Italian GDP figures were pretty dreadful. With domestic demand still very fragil and a fundamental lack of competitiveness hampering the external sector, Italy looks set to stage a slow and... 10th March 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response German Industrial Production (Jan.) The latest German industrial production figures provide some hope that the economic recovery has not ground to a complete halt. 8th March 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Commercial Property Focus Will German office rental values lag behind during the recovery? German office rental value growth lagged behind other major markets between 2004 and 2008, but we do not expect a repeat performance over the next few years. We think that the fundamental supports for... 8th March 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Labour market prospects still weak On the whole, last week’s news on the euro-zone economy was once again pretty disappointing. But the recent stabilisation in the unemployment rate is at least a little more encouraging. Unfortunately... 8th March 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update ECB winds down unconventional support The ECB is withdrawing its unconventional policy support a bit more quickly than had been expected. But its gloomy take on the economic outlook and the prospect of aggressive fiscal tightening in... 4th March 2010 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update How exposed are Emerging Europe’s banks to Greece? In a recent Update we argued that the crisis in Greece has dealt a huge blow to the prospects for a further rapid expansion of the euro-zone (see Emerging Europe Update, ‘Greek tragedy to temper EMU... 4th March 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Euro-zone GDP (Q4) The second euro-zone GDP release for Q4 brings some hope that the slowdown in growth at the end of last year at least partly reflected temporary factors. But the recovery in the region remains fragile... 4th March 2010 · 1 min read
