Unlike the Federal Reserve and most central banks, the European Central Bank operates with a single policy directive. That directive is to keep inflation just under 2%. The Fed has a 2% inflation target but also the mandate to achieve [...]
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| Jan 06 2020PPI Inflation vs. Composite PMI Performance Globally
The composite PMIs that weight the services and manufacturing sectors to arrive at an overall PMI standing continue to show a great deal of weakness in December. The unweighted average percentile standing for this month's PMIs by [...]
- Global| Jan 03 2020
Money, Credit and GDP vs Geopolitics
Well, Happy New Year…but realistically it is what it is. Isn't it? The killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, the architect of Iran's military expansion in the Middle East, has created a fire-storm of backlash. But the very [...]
- Global| Jan 02 2020
Asian PMIs Recovering but Many Still Show Mfg Contraction. None Show Strength or Even Firmness
China, the strongest MFG PMI, is also losing momentum the fastest. The Asia PMI average ticked higher in December to 50.5 from a dead neutral 50,0 in November (and 49.5 in October). There is a mild contour of recovery and only those [...]
- Global| Dec 31 2019
China's Manufacturing Claws Its Way to Meager Gains and the Road Ahead
All the indicators for China's manufacturing sector remain listless in December. For those of you driven by literalism, China's manufacturing sector has ‘grown' in each of the past two months as its manufacturing PMI stands above 50 [...]
- Global| Dec 27 2019
Japan's Activity Gauges Paint a Picture of Withering Growth or Worse
Japans' retail sales rebounded but only part way after a horrific decline in the wake of its consumption tax hike. On October 1, the government raised the consumption tax from 8% to 10%. While retail sales had risen by 7.2% in [...]
- Global| Dec 26 2019
Japan's Housing Starts and Orders Fall As BOJ Undershooting Continues
Japan's housing starts fell for the second month in a row in November. With a shirking population, housing is not the vibrant industry it once was. The housing market was impacted in the global recession, but it did recover from [...]
- Global| Dec 23 2019
German Export Prices Remain Weak
German export prices remain weak over current months as well as over 12 months. German import prices show some lift in November and over three months, but they are lower on balance over 12 months. Export and import prices excluding [...]
- Global| Dec 20 2019
Italian Confidence Rebounds Against a Declining Trend and Changing Global Environment
Both business and consumer confidence made moves higher in Italy in December to send the year out on a more hopeful note. Both series are embroiled in declining phases going back to late-2017 or early-2018. Business confidence has [...]
- Global| Dec 19 2019
U.K. Retail Sales Post Surprise Drop
U.K. nominal retail sales are lower by 0.5% in November, marking their fourth straight decline month-to-month. With Brexit and a national election facing British citizens, they have been a bit slow on the uptake of Christmas spirit. [...]
- Global| Dec 18 2019
German IFO Assessment and Expectation Improve
The IFO climate gauge improved to -0.5 in December from -1.5 in November. This improvement pushed the percentile standing to its 50.4 percentile in December from the 47.1 percentile previously, in November. Still, the ranking over the [...]
- Global| Dec 17 2019
Car Registrations in Europe
Car registrations in Europe show somewhat mixed trends in November. Year-over-year sales are rising for three months in a row in this highly volatile and hard to seasonally adjust series. But the recent months' trends are much more [...]
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