29 September 2019 The European economy has been decelerating since 2017. Indeed, the meagre 0.2% gain in GDP during Q2 2019 suggests economic activity may be stalling. And, as Germany, Italy, and the UK all recorded negative growth rates during the interval (and with Q3 looking decidedly weak as well), financial markets are increasingly concerned [...]
5 September 2019 Concerns about the impact of immigration was a major factor in the United Kingdom's Brexit decision. Likewise, the issue will surely feature in upcoming US Presidential campaigns. To be sure, it is an emotive topic: raising issues of cultural identity, public finances, and the impact on local labour markets. The large-scale international [...]
2 May 2019 The sharp decline in equity markets during Q4 2018, reflected the likelihood that global economic activity would decelerate in 2019. Some commentators went even further, coining a new phrase, and posing the question of whether a "Japanification" of the global economy was taking place. That is, even a decade after the Global [...]
23 January 2019 One of the unintended, albeit unsurprising, consequences of the current period of ultra-loose monetary conditions has been the extraordinary buildup in debt worldwide. The top Chart illustrates that during the previous business cycle global debt had remained stable at what seemed an elevated level of 80% of GDP. In the aftermath of [...]