Global growth will not move from 3.2% in 2019, 2012-2016 levels
Macroeconomists at Morgan Stanley have updated their estimates and believe that global growth will remain frozen at this level for the rest of 2019.
monetary policy
The Japanisation of the European economy
José Ramón Díez Guijarro (Bankia Estudios) | Fortunately, in the EMU, with the exception of the second half of 2014, when the expected inflation expectations traded by the five year German bond reached negative territory, this deflation risk seems much more contained. This could be the principal difference between the European and Japanese economies.
The negative yield curve and its consequences
Miguel Navascués | Recently, in the US, long term interest rates have fallen below short term rates. This has a more concrete significance: the economy is getting weaker and could enter recession. Something unusual has happened which we must explain.
US Monetary Policy: Pragmatism As New Guidance
Financial markets expect the US Federal Reserve (Fed) to raise its federal funds target rate on Wednesday for the fourth time this year, by 25 basis points (i.e. between 2.25% and 2.50%). Looking ahead, the FOMC will likely revise its “dots” lower for 2019, while the Fed will emphasise data dependence as relevant for its policy stance, rather than guidance by FOMC ‘dots’.
Unintended consequences of saving the world from the financial crisis
Neil Dwane (Allianz) | The response of central banks to the financial crisis 10 years ago may have saved the world from a devastating depression, but it also created a host of unforeseen effects – from more indebtedness to more economic inequality. Looking back at what we got right – and what went wrong – what lessons can we take away for the future?
Build A Stronger Eurozone’s Fiscal Buffers Or Have A Dovish Monetary Policy Forever
BoAML think that national fiscal buffers will be the only device to face the next cyclical downturn. In fact, with a fairly mild cyclical shock, the Stability and Growth Pact would be severely stressed. The solution can be a growth-stabilising euro area budget. If not, monetary policy may have limited further space.
Reserve Cut Doesn’t Signal About-Face in China’s Monetary Policy
Caixin | China’s central bank recently made a “targeted reduction” of banks’ reserve requirement ratio, less than two months after its last such move, drawing market attention.
EZ: When Greece financed itself cheaper than the US
Ignacio de la Torre | The ECB’s deposit rate, which is now at -0.4%, will move to -0.2% during 2019 and later to 0%. At the same time, during the second half of 2019 the logical thing is for the ECB to begin to raise interest rates. These two factors should fuel a progressive rise in the Euribor from the summer of next year.
Debt as the current biggest economic threat
The biggest economic threat today is not the interest rate, nor the exchange rates, nor the possible trade war fuelled by Trump: it’s the debt accumulated by countries across the world. This has increased 12% of GDP since the crisis, totalling 225% of global GDP. Starting with China, followed by Europe and ending up with the US, the threat from the current and future debt is terrifying.
“Underlying US Inflation Has Never Really Risen Above 2% Since The Mid-1990s”
“If we analyse the data from the last 25 years, there is very little inflation. Underlying inflation in the US has never really fallen below 1% which means that the secular dynamism in the labour market is reducing inflation, via technology and globalisation,” explains Bruce Kasman, chief economist at JP Morgan.