Inflation, once galloping headlong toward another case of hyper-Armageddon and toward another I-told-you-so central bank policy screw-up, has suddenly evaporated. Just one month ago German officials were all but howling at the moon 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| Mar 31 2017'Lax' ECB Policy Nonetheless Stuffs Toothpaste Back Into the Tube
- Global| Mar 30 2017
EU Index Rises but EMU Activity Index Falls in March
The EU Commission indexes for March show an advance for the EU as a whole and a small 0.1% drop for the EMU. The EMU gauge has risen by 0.1% in each of the two prior months. The level of the EU-wide gauge has an 81st percentile [...]
- Global| Mar 29 2017
La Dolce Vita? Italian Confidence Bumps Higher
Italian business and consumer confidence moved higher in March. Business confidence is on a four-month string of month-to-month improvements. Consumer confidence is making a rebound after falling in both January and February. Business [...]
- Global| Mar 28 2017
German Federal Debt Levels Fall
German debt level fell outright in Q4 2016 as the ratio of federal debt-to-GDP also fell. Germany has the lowest ratio of debt-to-GDP among the original EMU members with the exception of Luxembourg, a small country that is a financial [...]
- Global| Mar 27 2017
EMU Money and Credit Growth Are Less Than Impressive Than Euro-PMIs
EMU nominal money supply growth is slightly higher over three months, but credit growth in the EMU is slower. Real balances (inflation adjusted month and credit) show slow and slowing money and credit growth with credit growth [...]
- Global| Mar 24 2017
EMU PMIs Are Off to the Races...Farewell Mediocrity?
The PMI rankings for the manufacturing and service sector PMIs in the EMU are suddenly off the chart. The queue rankings mark most of this month's readings as this strong or stronger only about 1.6% of the time (since January 2012); [...]
- Global| Mar 23 2017
U.K. Retail Looks Less Bulletproof; BOE's Next Move May Not Be As Clear Cut As You Think
For the most part, the assessments embodied in the March survey from the UK's CBI (Confederation of British Industry) are being taken as being upbeat. But I see a bit too much complacency in that spin. Reported sales, compared to one [...]
- Global| Mar 22 2017
Japan's Trade Trends Turn Sharply Higher; Much of the Gain Is Recent; Much of that Is in Prices
Japan has logged its largest current account surplus since April 2010. The 2011 Tsunami led to a nationwide nuclear power plant shut down, increasing oil imports and depressing the trade position in its aftermath for an extended [...]
The U.K. inflation rate moved up above the BOE's 2% threshold for inflation, surprising markets. Bank of England Governor Mark Carney reacted to the report, saying that it was important not to overreact to economic data for a single [...]
- Global| Mar 20 2017
German PPI Runs Wild But May Not Translate Into Substantial CPI Changes
The German PPI rose in February. It gained 0.3% in February relative to January, pushing the year-on-year gauge up to a 3.0% gain as the sequential readings rose to a 4.6% pace over six months and a 6.1% annualized pace over three [...]
- Global| Mar 17 2017
Sharp Drop in EU Trade Surplus as G20 Meets
The EMU has posted the largest one-month drop in its trade surplus on data back to January 1999. The surplus fell from 23.1 billion euros in December to 15.7 billion euros in January. The factor behind this deficit drop is the rise in [...]
- Global| Mar 16 2017
EMU Inflation and European Vehicle Sales
Two important reports are on tap today. One is the finalization of the HICP data and the new availability of core HICP data for the EMU and key EMU members. The second is vehicle registration in the EMU which are slowing. The key [...]
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