Climate in Germany's Ifo index improved unexpectedly in April. The climate index moved to 14.8 in April from 13.8 in March with current conditions improving to 18.9 from 18.7 as expectations rose to 10.8 from 9.0. The rise in [...]
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| Apr 24 2014Ifo Shows Unexpected Strength as Europe Makes Some Progress
- Global| Apr 23 2014
Italian Trade Trends: A One Month Back-off
Italian exports and imports are both engaged in a longer-term trend of sweeping upward after an extended period of showing year-over-year declines (see Chart). Exports currently are up at a 3% annual rate over 12 months while imports [...]
- Global| Apr 22 2014
Sweden Makes Employment Progress
Sweden continues to make progress on the employment front. In March employment improved by 0.7% after being flat in February and down slightly in January. Over three months, the employment growth rate is 2.9%, up from 2.4% over the [...]
- Global| Apr 21 2014
Italy's Orders Weaken as Fiscal Policy Shifts
Industrial orders weakened in Italy in February. They fell by 3.1% but only after rising by 4.7% in January. Still, January represents a partial rebound from a 4.8% drop in December. Obviously, there has been a good deal of volatility [...]
- Global| Apr 17 2014
European Car Sales Rise But Lose Momentum
Auto registrations in Europe have risen again on a year-over-year basis, posting an increase of 1.6% over 12 months. This, however, is down from a 6.8% year-over-year gain in February and is the smallest gain since October 2013. [...]
- Global| Apr 15 2014
ZEW Cites Ukraine for Some Loss in German Confidence
Germany's ZEW index for current conditions moved up to 59.5 in April from 51.3 in March. The rise in the current index is at the point where it's only higher, historically, 10.7% of the time. This is an extremely strong reading [...]
- Global| Apr 14 2014
EMU Recovery Is In Train
Industrial production in the European Monetary Union moved up by 0.2% in February following a flat performance in January. That also followed a decline of 0.3% in December. However, measured on a quarter-to-date basis, industrial [...]
- Global| Apr 11 2014
Weidmann OK's QE for Euro Area; How Worrisome Are Inflation Trends?
Inflation has taken on a life of its own as a policy driver in the European Monetary Union. Jens Weidmann, President of the Deutsche Bundesbank, who has been renowned for his opposition to anything that looked like an innovative [...]
- Global| Apr 10 2014
Credibility or Not Here We Come Central Bankers on Parade
Central banking has been through a number of ups and downs. Currently central bankers are under a good deal of pressure for the regulatory missteps during the financial crisis as well as what are construed by some as inappropriate [...]
- Global| Apr 09 2014
German Imports Finally Begin to Outpace Exports
German goods exports dove lower in February, dropping by 1.3% after a strong gain of 2.2% in January. Imports continued to rise with a moderate 0.4% gain after a surge of 4.1% in January. These forces combined to shrink the German [...]
- Global| Apr 08 2014
OECD LEIs Slow
The amplitude adjusted index for the entire OECD area was flat for the third consecutive month. But flat at a level above 100; growth goes on. The US and UK indices each ticked down on the month. China and Japan were flat. The EMU [...]
- Global| Apr 07 2014
German IP Rises-But Is It Enough?
The chart shows the main elements underlying the improvement in German industrial production. Both capital goods output in the output of intermediate goods are moving up at a brisk pace. Lagging those two sectors is consumer goods [...]
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