Archives par catégories : IN CHARTS

Commodities

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Has the time come for commodity markets to increase again?

After three years of stagnation, a growing number of investors have been tempted to think so in recent weeks. This renewed interest is hardly surprising given that equity markets are brimming with confidence in the belief that the global economic picture is gradually improving.

Our contrarian economic outlook is naturally quite skeptical of a recovery in global commodity prices. Despite geopolitical and weather-related stress, the international environment runs the risk of suffering a broad downturn amid rampant disinflation and ongoing growth disappointments. Against this backdrop, it would be gold that stands the most likely chance of increasing in value…assuming that long-term real interest rates weaken.

 

Contents

1. Unusually stable prices since 2012 

2. Energy bills generally manageable… 

3. … thanks to falling consumption 

4. Keeping an eye on agriculture… 

5. Precious metals: end of QE could trigger a rise… 

Global investment: lingering disappointment

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The improvement in the global economic backdrop since late 2013 has not provided the desired results when it comes to investment. Although the European recovery has shown a few positive signs, an overview of global investment trends continues to paint a disappointing picture:

  • In the U.S., where recent corporate earnings and leading indicators have fallen short of expectations;
  • In Japan, where the 2013 rally remains highly dependent on companies’ export performance, which has become somewhat of a mixed bag;
  • In the emerging world, where many Asian countries are confronted with excess capacities, at a time when most big countries are now paying the price for their structural shortcomings;
  • In Europe, where – unlike the rest of the world – leading indicators are actually encouraging: could the region rise to the challenge? Of course, such a scenario is unrealistic

The extended absence of an improvement in investment prospects is one the most troubling constraint for future economic development. We discuss this topic in further detail in « Investment inertia: what is at stake« .

Global Inflation – Disinflation Is Gaining Ground Across the Globe

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At the global level, disinflation is gaining ground. After a temporary rebound during spring, global inflation continued its downtrend in the second half of 2013 and ended the year at 3.2%. Inflation remains very weak in the developed world, at 1.3% in December, and has also sagged in many emerging markets in recent months, to finish 2013 at 6.1%.

In fact, as of December 2013, nearly half the countries (39) in our sample of 80 countries had inflation rates of less than 2%, which is markedly higher than a year ago (24). These figures have seen the addition of a growing number of Asian economies (6), the United States and Canada as well as all 27 members of the EU – without exception. Moreover, the number of countries with moderate inflation (3-4%) decreased sharply while the proportion of high-inflation economies (>6%) has not changed considerably and includes African countries and conflict-plagued countries for the most part.

  • Disinflation Is Gaining Ground Across the Globe
  • Commodity Prices Easing
  • Price Picture Still Mixed in EMs
  • Deflation Risk Remains High in the West  
  • United States, Not Quite in the Clear Yet
  • Euro Area, Deflation Risk Spreading to Core
  • Imports, an Additional Source of Disinflation
  • Increase in Real Interest Rates, the Bigger Threat

The U.S. Economy: Far Too Early to Break Out the Champagne

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That markets are wildly optimistic about the U.S. economy is nothing new. What should draw our attention this time around is that such upbeat sentiment has rarely been harder to square with the numbers. For example, contrary to the dominant narrative:

  • The U.S. economy is doing worse than a few months ago, not better. Growth in industrial output is petering out, productivity has moved into negative territory, and employment data point to backsliding.
  • The economy’s ability to cope with higher interest rates simply can’t be taken for granted. Not only has consumer spending yet to pick up, but the real estate market has been derailed by the rise in interest rates since the start of the year.
  • While a change of course by the Federal Reserve may seem long overdue after five years of unconventional monetary policy, it makes no economic sense. This suggests that the Fed is very much in danger of jumping the gun.

World Growth Monitor

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Going it alone. The global economic picture is unquestionably looking brighter. Unlike previous recoveries, however, this one is fueled above all by consumer spending. The trend is especially noteworthy in Europe now that austerity policies have been scrapped. But it can also be observed in the United States—since the country has steered clear of the fiscal cliff dangers at the start of the year—and Japan, where the Abe administration’s first moves have lifted the spirits of local consumers. Even in China, sustained consumer spending is what has offset the negative impact of an end to export support. So on the whole, the environment is more encouraging. Yet the missing ingredient here is what proved to be one of the key drivers of global growth in the 1990s—world trade. This has two main implications:

  1. Global growth will be weaker than in the past, and will stay that way for some time.
  2. There will be greater risk for economies that are still too dependent on exports, i.e., the emerging economies in general and more specifically those suffering from structural imbalances—Brazil, India, and South Africa—and increasingly burdened by mounting current account deficits.

France–Germany: Comparing 20 Years of Economic History

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Une_anglaisLike all crises, the present one provides a fertile breeding ground for dogmatic, cookie-cutter statements and clichés that don’t always square with reality. So perhaps the best way to avoid making disastrous decisions on the momentous issues of today is to take a good, hard look at our past. This view was what prompted us to publish the following series of charts, which sum up twenty years of comparative economic history in France and Germany.

Growth, consumption, employment, real estate, debt, demographics, and foreign trade are the themes we have covered here, in the hope of offering the reader greater insight into the forces at work in the euro area’s two leading economies.

 

Global Inflation

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The Gold Selloff as Warning Sign for Impending Deflation

Recent disappointment with a sluggish economy has altered perceptions about the risk of inflation. Since the beginning of March, ten-year inflation expectations in the U.S. bond market have shed 30 basis points, the sharpest decline in the past year. At the same time, plummeting gold prices bear witness to growing doubts about the reflationary policies pursued by central banks. Moreover, current global trends suggest that this sentiment won’t be changing any time soon:

  • With inflation rates well below 2 percent and still receding, most industrialized countries are inching their way toward deflationary territory. High unemployment and low capacity utilization rates exert strong downward pressure on wages and producer prices, a trend accentuated by softer energy prices. 
  • The rising inflation observed in an increasing number of emerging economies is in fact limited to those with little global influence, primarily India, Russia, Brazil, and Argentina. Asia’s exporters of manufactured goods still show low inflation rates that are much closer to those in the advanced countries. 

 All these developments should therefore encourage central banks the world over to go further with monetary easing.