Global| Jan 24 2003Price Inflation in Europe and Japan
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
Volatile energy prices have dominated the inflation picture around the world but in Europe, core price inflation has been firm. Annual gains in prices less food and energy ran in excess of 2% during 2002, double the growth during 1999 [...]
Volatile energy prices have dominated the inflation picture around the world but in Europe, core price inflation has been firm. Annual gains in prices less food and energy ran in excess of 2% during 2002, double the growth during 1999 and 2000.
Growth in services prices doubled during the period to above 3% while rents accelerated modestly. Consumer goods price inflation dropped sharply.
For an assessment of core inflation measures in the Euro Area by the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank, click here.
In Japan, price deflation has been in place since 1998 with core prices down roughly 1% in each of the last two years. Service prices lately have managed some modest increases, but rents still are falling. Producer prices for nondurable goods have been falling hard and machinery and equipment prices have been falling at a 2% rate since 1994.
Measurement biases in Japan's CPI are explored by the National Bureau of Economic Research in this paper.
Tom Moeller
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Prior to joining Haver Analytics in 2000, Mr. Moeller worked as the Economist at Chancellor Capital Management from 1985 to 1999. There, he developed comprehensive economic forecasts and interpreted economic data for equity and fixed income portfolio managers. Also at Chancellor, Mr. Moeller worked as an equity analyst and was responsible for researching and rating companies in the economically sensitive automobile and housing industries for investment in Chancellor’s equity portfolio. Prior to joining Chancellor, Mr. Moeller was an Economist at Citibank from 1979 to 1984. He also analyzed pricing behavior in the metals industry for the Council on Wage and Price Stability in Washington, D.C. In 1999, Mr. Moeller received the award for most accurate forecast from the Forecasters' Club of New York. From 1990 to 1992 he was President of the New York Association for Business Economists. Mr. Moeller earned an M.B.A. in Finance from Fordham University, where he graduated in 1987. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from George Washington University.
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