Japan ran its 24th consecutive surplus on its trade account in September. The three-month moving average of the trade balance is beginning to recover after hovering in the 300 billion yen to 359 billion yen range from mid-2016 to [...]
Introducing
Robert Brusca
in:Our Authors
Robert A. Brusca is Chief Economist of Fact and Opinion Economics, a consulting firm he founded in Manhattan. He has been an economist on Wall Street for over 25 years. He has visited central banking and large institutional clients in over 30 countries in his career as an economist. Mr. Brusca was a Divisional Research Chief at the Federal Reserve Bank of NY (Chief of the International Financial markets Division), a Fed Watcher at Irving Trust and Chief Economist at Nikko Securities International. He is widely quoted and appears in various media. Mr. Brusca holds an MA and Ph.D. in economics from Michigan State University and a BA in Economics from the University of Michigan. His research pursues his strong interests in non aligned policy economics as well as international economics. FAO Economics’ research targets investors to assist them in making better investment decisions in stocks, bonds and in a variety of international assets. The company does not manage money and has no conflicts in giving economic advice.
Publications by Robert Brusca
Global| Oct 19 2017Japan's Trade Surplus Erodes Slightly As Nominal Imports Outpace Exports
- Global| Oct 18 2017
U.K. Unemployment Rate and Claimant Count Drop As BOE Prepared to an Uncertain Future
U.K. unemployment statistics have been pointing to labor market strength for some time. There are various measures of labor market conditions, ranging from several unemployment rate definitions to the claimant count. According to all [...]
- Global| Oct 17 2017
Germany Has Become the High Inflation Country in EMU
German inflation year-to-date is at 1.8%. Among the original EMU members, that pace is exceeded only by Austria at 2.3%, Belgium and Luxembourg each at 2%, and Spain at 1.9%. Seven other of the original EMU member countries plus [...]
- Global| Oct 16 2017
EMU Trade Surplus Widens
Imports continue to grow faster than exports in the EMU which has been the case since late-2016. Yet, the surplus is barely changed from 12 months ago. The greater import (compared to export) growth tends to drive the surplus lower [...]
- Global| Oct 13 2017
British Chamber of Commerce Survey Shows Manufacturing/Service Sector Divide
The British Chamber of Commerce quarterly survey features separate readings on the manufacturing and service sectors. We feature the manufacturing and services data in the table but the chart only the manufacturing data. If I use [...]
- Global| Oct 12 2017
EMU Area IP Jumps
Euro area industrial production is jumping in August as its 1.4% gain is the largest one-month spurt since November last year when it gained 1.6% in one month. Manufacturing growth is up by 1.7% in August and up at a 5.9% annual rate [...]
- Global| Oct 11 2017
Japan's Core Orders Surge As Sector Growth Plods Ahead
Japan's machinery and core order series both expanded sharply in August. Both series show gathering momentum as Japan continues to post better than expected growth metrics despite still lagging inflation performance. Total and core [...]
- Global| Oct 10 2017
German Exports Rise Strongly But Show Little Real Momentum
Neither German exports nor imports are surging, but exports have a very strong one-month gain in August after a very mild rise in July. Year-on-year exports have decelerated compared to the pace of growth in the same month of one year [...]
- Global| Oct 09 2017
German IP Makes Strong Rebound
Germany's industrial production rebounded strongly, gaining 2.6% m/m in August after falling in each of the previous two months. Capital goods output was especially strong, rising by 4.8% in August after falling for two straight [...]
- Global| Oct 06 2017
German Orders Jump in August But Only for German Joy
The overview Although German orders are plagued by volatility and both headline and total orders fell in July, the surge in August orders of 3.6% based on strong domestic-sourced and foreign-sourced demand confirms that order trends [...]
- Global| Oct 05 2017
Global Services Sector Shows Growth But Erratic Momentum
Globally, service sector metrics show continued growth. All countries/regions (hereafter, I will simply reference 'countries' with no change in meaning) show service sector diffusion readings above 50, indicating expansion. I evaluate [...]
- Global| Oct 04 2017
PMIs Pick Up As Asia Continues to Lag; European Manufacturing Gauges Show Same Distortions As in the U.S.
The table chronicles the various composite manufacturing and services PMIs offered by Markit (we use Markit readings for the U.S. here except in the left chart). The EMU and U.S. readings are on a strong rise, but those gains may not [...]
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