Finland's consumer confidence index has short history, but in the graphic we overlay the longer-lived EU measure of confidence against the Finnish domestic measure and the sharp recent collapse in the recent index is starkly revealed. [...]
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 27 2020Finland's Consumer Confidence to All-Time Low...Among Other Things
- Global| Apr 24 2020
Germany's IFO Plunges to All-New Depths
This is not snorkeling or even deep sea diving; it requires a bathyscaphe. The German IFO has sunk to new depths even after a substantial plunge a month ago. All of the rankings display severe weakness with the ongoing lone exception [...]
- Global| Apr 23 2020
Germany: The Hammer Falls on Confidence in May
The expectation for German confidence in May has taken the sharpest, deepest and broadest turn for the worse on record. The German April reading had taken 'a step down' and a significant one at that. But the full realization of what [...]
- Global| Apr 22 2020
U.K. Inflation Steps Back; COVID-19 Lurks Less Than People Think
U.K. inflation has remained tame. In December there was a broad-based acceleration, but that has dissipated in February and March. In March and February, only about 21% of the major categories and the headline accelerated month-to- [...]
- Global| Apr 21 2020
ZEW Experts Show Wild Swings in Expectations and More
It's down, it's up, it's down, it's up...it's confused! The table below shows the percentile standings of the ZEW assessments this month on different gauges. The bottom of the table offers various summary statistics among them the [...]
- Global| Apr 20 2020
EMU Trade Surpluses Expand As the Virus Swirls
In the EMU, neither exports nor imports show much zest. But exports had some life in their year-on-year trend and that is helping to drive a wider surplus in the EMU area. Broadly both exports and imports are fluctuating in relatively [...]
- Global| Apr 17 2020
Japan's IP Falls in February...It's Only the Beginning
Japan's industrial production fell by 0.3% in February after two straight months of gains with January having been especially strong. Mixed trends Japan's industrial production trend has two distinct aspects. From 12-months to six- [...]
- Global| Apr 16 2020
EMU IP Ticks Lower in February; The Worst Still Lies Ahead
The only sure things in life are death, taxes and the fact that the coronavirus will haunt you if not stalk you down. The February IP accounting from the EMU is the last report from the EMU on IP before the abject weakness from the [...]
- Global| Apr 15 2020
KABOOM! The Lockdown Strikes
French retail sales fall 24% Record fall in Aussie consumer confidence Canada's GDP falls 9% in March U.S. data plunge: retail sales -8.7%, Empire State index -78.2, IP -5.4% The global rout is on! Tally… HALT! I can write about [...]
- Global| Apr 14 2020
Inflation Continues Tame in EMU; Finland's Prices Drop in March
I feature a chart of Finland's price index against Brent. It shows how the headline for Finland is very much on the same cycle as oil prices. However, despite a heralded oil price deal, oil prices today are falling again and the oil [...]
- Global| Apr 13 2020
Portuguese Prices Fall in March; Annually Prices Barely Rise
Globally the theme is corona, corona, corona. The virus and its progression dominates everything. Economists defer their forecasting to the whims of policymakers led by epidemiologists. But in the end, there remains a steady drumbeat [...]
- Global| Apr 10 2020
Japan's PPI Falls Amid Global Inflation Slowdown; Globally Inflation Dies As Expectations Rise from Its Ashes! [...]
Inflation risk in the face of corona: While the coronavirus grabs headlines and raises fears as it leaves a scattering of death around the globe, it is also wreaking havoc with economics, economic systems and any ability to create [...]
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