While the chart shows the hint of GDP weakening ahead of the hit from the coronavirus, the virus clearly was a blow out of the blue. Among the nine early reporting long-standing EMU members, GDP fell everywhere except in Finland where [...]
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| May 15 2020GDP across the EMU Region Takes a Deep Dive
Global| May 14 2020German Inflation, COVID-19 and Beyond
Inflation is under a double dose of downward diversions. The COVID-19 has knocked growth down. Slowing GDP usually is associated with some inflation weakening as demand pressures abate. However, activity has been reduced- demand and [...]
Global| May 13 2020EMU IP Plunges...Leave No Sector Behind
On a day that the U.K. has reported a 5.8% drop its economic activity in one month the largest ever, the EMU IP report finalizes with its own 11.3% drop in March. Manufacturing IP dropped by 12.3% in March as well. Of the Fifteen [...]
Global| May 12 2020OECD LEIs 'Unprecedented Collapse'
The OECD's own headline on this report flags the LEIs as showing an 'unprecedented collapse,' I have simply gone with their lede. Weakness globally stems from the nearly synchronous spread of the Coronavirus and the impact of policies [...]
Global| May 11 2020Record Drop in Italian IP; IP Plummets 30.6% in One Month
IP flatlines then heads straight for Dante's inferno Italy's Industrial production fell sharply in March as Europe is gripped in early-May by reopening fever. Of course, the March report on IP lags. May is 'real time' so these events [...]
Global| May 08 2020German Exports Log Record Plunge; German Surplus Lowest Since October 2011...Future? Unknown
German exports fell by 11.8% in March, a record drop in exports. Trade details lag by one month and are not very useful in understanding new developments in trade since this month is simply off the cliff in comparison with everything [...]
Global| May 07 2020German IP Makes Largest Drop Under Reunification; All of Europe Is Also Under Pressure
Germany's industrial production fell by 9.2% in March after a 0.3% gain in February. Sequential growth rates are falling across all sectors and decelerating from 12-months to six-months to three-months. In the just completed quarter, [...]
Global| May 06 2020Global Composite PMIs Take a Sudden Deep Dive
Once again the data demonstrate a sharp drop that has had no real prelude. February was a more or less normal month; then March and April saw collapse come out of the blue as the wheels went spinning off the wagons. These are the [...]
Global| May 05 2020EMU PPI Weakens Sharply; Impacts of COVID-19 and the Fight Against It Spread Everywhere
I read the news today, oh, boy… It is Cinco de Mayo but the bars are closed so celebrating that holds bleak prospects. The euro area PPI is not the sort of thing we would celebrate, putting Cinco de Mayo aside. Sure, low-inflation [...]
Global| May 04 2020PMIs Collapse Globally...Except China...Is That a Problem?
The finalized April PMIs for Europe are even weaker than the already released flash versions that were themselves quite weak. The spread of weakness is unusually uniform with the weakest manufacturing PMIs reading at 27.4 (India) and [...]
Global| May 01 2020April Manufacturing PMIs- Early Responders
The manufacturing PMI readings fell significantly everywhere globally. But in China where the gauge did lose standing it barely ticked below 50, indicating contraction. Japan showed the second most resilience with its manufacturing [...]
Global| Apr 30 2020EMU GDP Takes a Deep Dive; Everyone Holds Their Breath
Europe was hit especially hard in Q1. The year-on-year growth rates for this cluster of reporters is at or near the lowest they have posted since end-1997. European economies generally were hit a bit earlier than the U.S. That is [...]
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