Nordic & Swiss Economics Focus Swiss pivot towards Asia reduces reliance on euro-zone The Swiss economy will not be immune to weak growth in the euro-zone over the coming years, but rising demand from Asia and the increased importance of sectors that are relatively insensitive to the... 4th April 2019 · 1 min read
Europe Chart Pack Economy close to stalling We suspect that GDP increased by only 0.1% in the first quarter of this year. The divergence between the manufacturing and services sectors has, if anything, increased, and this in turn has... 4th April 2019 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Focus Indonesia election unlikely to lead to stronger growth Although neither candidate in Indonesia’s presidential election has unveiled policy proposals that are likely to address the long-standing constraints which are holding back growth, another term for... 4th April 2019 · 1 min read
Global Economics Chart Pack Divergent surveys offer limited hope World GDP growth seems to have slowed sharply in Q1, but the latest business surveys suggest that growth has bottomed out in some parts of the world at least. March’s unchanged global manufacturing... 3rd April 2019 · 1 min read
Global Economics Update How will the rest of the world cope with 2% growth in China? Contrary to the mainstream view that China will keep growing at fairly rapid rates, we expect GDP growth there to slow to 2% by 2030. This slowdown need not in itself be bad for the rest of the world... 3rd April 2019 · 1 min read
US Economic Outlook Slowdown will force Fed to reverse course We expect GDP growth to slow from 2.9% to 2.0% this year and only 1.4% in 2020. That weakness should convince the Fed to reverse course and cut interest rates by a cumulative 75bp, with the first... 3rd April 2019 · 1 min read
UK Economics Chart Pack The give and take of Brexit The uncertainty caused by Brexit is helping some parts of the economy and hindering others, but as a whole the economy isn’t doing too badly. An apparent surge in stockbuilding ahead of the original... 3rd April 2019 · 1 min read
UK Data Response Markit/CIPS Services PMI (Mar.) With the UK entering the most intense phase of Brexit uncertainty (so far!), the gloomy tone of March’s Markit/CIPS services survey is perhaps not too surprising. While we suspect the survey is... 3rd April 2019 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Bouteflexit: what next for Algeria? The decision by Algeria’s President Bouteflika to step down is likely to result in a long and potentially messy transition. At the very least, economic growth will weaken and the chances of a severe... 3rd April 2019 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Euro-zone Retail Sales (Feb.) & Final PMIs (Mar.) February’s retail sales data suggest that household spending growth picked up a bit in Q1. But the Composite PMI, together with other surveys, suggests that GDP growth might have slowed. 3rd April 2019 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Retail Sales & International Trade (Feb.) The strong 0.8% m/m rise in retail sales in February suggests that consumption growth may not have declined further in Q1, but we think the housing downturn will mean growth remains subdued in 2019... 3rd April 2019 · 1 min read
US Data Response Durable Goods (Feb.) The 1.6% m/m decline in February’s durable goods orders was principally due to a 31.1% m/m drop back in the notoriously volatile commercial aircraft orders component. Nevertheless, even putting that... 2nd April 2019 · 1 min read
Latin America Data Response Brazil Industrial Production (Feb.) The 0.7% m/m rise in Brazilian industrial production in February confirms that industry is recovering from a very weak period that was affected by one-off drags in the auto and petroleum refining... 2nd April 2019 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Budget not as expansionary as it looks The Coalition government’s Budget for 2019/20 promises additional tax cuts while still achieving a budget surplus. Labor will probably win next month’s federal election and we suspect it will at least... 2nd April 2019 · 1 min read
Global Economics Focus How will the rest of the world cope with 2% growth in China? Contrary to the mainstream view that China will keep growing at fairly rapid rates, we expect GDP growth there to slow to 2% by 2030. This slowdown need not in itself be bad for the rest of the world... 2nd April 2019 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Data Response Swiss Consumer Prices (Mar.) The slight pick-up in Swiss inflation in March does not change our view that the headline rate will fall back into negative territory in mid-2019 and that core price pressures will remain extremely... 2nd April 2019 · 1 min read
