Officials in Japan have become more worried in recent weeks even saying that they cannot be sure that the economy is not now in recession. It’s GDP for 2008-Q2 tells that story. GDP is declining at a weak 2.4% pace in Q2 (Saar). The [...]
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| Aug 12 2008Japan's GDP Slows and Contracts
- Global| Aug 11 2008
French IP is Losing Momentum Across Sectors
In June French IP fell by 0.4%, unexpected weakness. It has now dropped in two of the past three months and is falling sharply in the current quarter, at a -5.3% annual rate. Italy, like France, has had a very weak May but managed [...]
- Global| Aug 11 2008
French IP is Losing MomentumAcross Sectors
In June French IP fell by 0.4%, unexpected weakness. It has now dropped in two of the past three months and is falling sharply in the current quarter, at a -5.3% annual rate. Italy, like France, has had a very weak May but managed [...]
- Global| Aug 08 2008
OECD Indicators Do Not Point to Good News
The OECD Trend-restored LEIs tell a story that is now becoming familiar in the markets. The US is still weakening. But Europe is weakening faster. Just today Italy reported a DECLINE in GDP for 2008Q2. Nout Wellink, an ECB board [...]
- Global| Aug 08 2008
Japan’s Economy Watcher’s Index Plunges
Too much watching, not enough spending? Japan’s economy watchers index has dropped sharply. Its components are all on 5-Year lows and have been that way for two months running. The NTC MFG index is on a five year low. The Teikoku [...]
- Global| Aug 07 2008
Germany's Weakness in IP Does Not Stand Alone
Weakness in industrial output is now a growing EU-wide phenomenon based on the large countries’ results. Among the early reporting large countries Germany, Italy and the UK show negative growth rates for real output in 2008-Q2. Only [...]
- Global| Aug 07 2008
German IP Falls Sharply in Quarter Despite Rise in June
Larger order drop points to even worse performance in Q3. Trends in German output are losing momentum across all sectors despite a small rebound in the current month. Consumer goods output has been weakening for some time but the [...]
- Global| Aug 06 2008
Japan LEI Falls
Japan’s leading economic index fell in June after having a small uptick in May. Over three-months the index is higher but it is deeply weaker over 24-, 12- and 6-months. The OECD index that is not quite as up-to-date has been pointing [...]
- Global| Aug 06 2008
German MFG Orders Have Turned Horrifically Weak
Historically German foreign orders have been the more volatile of the two series (foreign and domestic orders for MFG goods). The current drop is a steep one indeed. The aggressive growth rates show that growth fore both domestic and [...]
- Global| Aug 05 2008
EMU PPI Surges Again
Central banks are not having good luck with inflation. Of course, critics will say that inflation fighting has little to do with luck and that is true enough. The PPI is not a targeted rate by the ECB so in some sense it can be [...]
- Global| Aug 01 2008
Manufacturing PMIs: Falling in Concert in Europe
The Markit/NTC PMIs show a clear pattern of weakness in the manufacturing sector. Among the major PMI reporters only Germany and Greece still post PMI values above 50, the ostensible neutral mark. If we calculate where the various [...]
- Global| Aug 01 2008
German Retail Sales Wither
Add German retail sales trends to the list of items turning out more negative prospects for the e-Zone. Retail sales ex-autos as well as real retail sales ex autos saw sales drop by 1.4% month-to-month in June of 2008. Over three- [...]
- of353Go to 306 page