Recent Updates
- US: Philadelphia Fed State Coincidence Indexes (Apr)
- US: Advance Durable Goods (Apr)
- Maldives: Depository Corporations Survey (Apr)
- Mexico: GDP (Q1), Economic Activity (Mar), Trade (Apr)
- Bosnia: PPI (Apr)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
U.S. Mortgage Applications Continue to Weaken
The MBA Loan Applications Index fell 1.2% (-54.5% y/y) in the week ended May 20...
German Climate Reading Continues to Skid Toward the Abyss
Germany's GfK consumer climate reading improved ever so slightly in June...
U.S. New Home Sales Plunge in April as Prices Jump
The new home sales market is unraveling...
U.S. Energy Prices Rise Further
Retail gasoline prices increased to $4.59 per gallon in the week ended May 23...
S&P Flash PMIs Are Mixed in May As Manufacturing Erodes Slowly
Among the early reporting countries in Europe and Japan, the S&P PMI readings for May tilt toward weakness...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
State Coincident Indexes in April 2022
State Labor Markets in April 2022
Profits & Margins Plunge In Q1: Expect More Margin Contraction As Fed Squeezes Inflation
The Many Links of Inflation Cycle: Hard Landing Is Needed to Crack Them
Peak Inflation and Fed Policy: A Relationship which Should Worry the Fed and Scare Investors
by Louise Curley April 23, 2012
The rebellion against austerity measures in the Euro Area has spread from the troubled countries such as Greece, Spain and Italy to the Netherlands. The Netherlands, a close ally of Germany and has been a staunch supporter of austerity. But the economy has been faltering and opposition to provisions of the new austerity budget has been rising, particularly within the anti Euro, right wing Freedom Party. The issue came to a head over the last weekend when the Freedom Party walked out of the budget talks. Prime Minister Mark Rutte submitted his resignation to the Queen but was requested to form a caretaker government and negotiate a budget with the opposition.
Some indication of the mood of the Dutch people is indicated by the measures of confidence among consumers and business people that were published today. Confidence among manufacturers has deteriorated since the beginning of this year as can be seen in the first chart. Confidence is expressed as a percent balance. The overall measure of business confidence was -3.3% in April, indicating that there were 3.3% more business people who believed conditions were deteriorating than those who believed they were improving. One of the components of business confidence, Expected Activity declined from -5.8%in March to -6.1% in April and the Opinion on Order Books declined from -4.7% in March to -6.4% in April. The appraisal of inventories was the only positive, though a small one, 2.6%, in both March and April. A rise in inventories when the economy is slowing, is not, however, very reassuring.
Consumers perked up a bit in April, but their confidence is still close to their all time lows. Over the past five years consumers have been much more pessimistic than business people as can be seen in comparing the first and second charts. Like the business people the are not in a mood to welcome higher taxes and lower welfare grants willingly.
The Netherlands | Apr-12 | Mar-12 | Feb-12 | Jan-12 | Dec-11 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Producers' Confidence | -3.3 | -2.6 | -1.5 | -1.4 | -1.3 |
Expected Activity | -6.1 | -5.8 | -5.3 | -2.5 | -2.2 |
Opinion on Order Books | -6.4 | -4.7 | -1.6 | -2.6 | -4.1 |
Stocks of Finished Products | 2.6 | 2.6 | 2.5 | 0.8 | 2.5 |
Consumer Confidence | -32 | -39 | -36 | -37 | -37 |
Economic Climate | -53 | -65 | -61 | -65 | -63 |
Willingness to Buy | -19 | -22 | -20 | -18 | -20 |