recession Archives - Page 2 of 4 - the patient investor

August 12, 2013

China ‘hard landing’ could trigger Australia recession: Standard & Poor – The Economic Times

“Australia’s exposure to commodity demand from Asia, and China in particular, was a saving grace during the global recession of 2009. But by the same token it has become Australia’s Achilles’ heel,” the ratings giant [Standard & Poor’s] said.

“Particularly while mining investment remains such a large share of the Australian economy, and other sectors continue to lack growth momentum, Australia remains highly sensitive to a sharp correction in China’s economic growth.”

February 28, 2013

ECB Says Private Lending Contracted for Ninth Month in January – Bloomberg

Jana Randow at Reuters writes:

Lending to households and companies in the euro area shrank for a ninth month in January as the recession damped demand for credit.

December 7, 2012

Lakshman Achuthan's US recession call

Sam Ro of Business Insider quotes ECRI:

So, with about a month to go before year-end, what do the hard data tell us about where we are in the business cycle? Reviewing the indicators used to officially decide U.S. recession dates, it looks like the recession began around July 2012. This is because, in retrospect, three of those four coincident indicators – the broad measures of production, income, employment and sales – saw their high points in July….. with only employment still rising.

See chart at Lakshman Achuthan's Tell-Tale Chart | Business Insider.

November 26, 2012

France to ArcelorMittal: if you don’t like losing money, get out of France – Quartz

By Simone Foxman

It’s clear that [Arnaud Montebourg, France’s Minister of Industrial Renewal] is confusing the culprit with the victim. The continued failure of European politicians to resolve the region’s debt and banking problems for good has finally caught up with companies across the euro area. Those firms that waited for a more competitive, more integrated, and more stable monetary union have been forced to cut their losses and change their strategies to survive, as politicians bicker at the bargaining table……

via France to ArcelorMittal: if you don’t like losing money, get out of France – Quartz.

November 18, 2012

The Liquidity Trap

In his 2003 paper Escaping from a Liquidity Trap and Deflation: The Foolproof Way and Others Lars E.O. Svensson describes the liquidity trap experienced by countries such as Japan and lately the US, when central bank interest rates are close to zero percent.

If the nominal interest rate is initially low, which it is when inflation and expected future inflation are low, the central bank does not have much room to lower the interest rate further. But with deflation and expectations of deflation, even a nominal interest rate of zero percent can result in a substantially positive real interest rate that is higher than the level required to stimulate the economy out of recession and deflation. Nominal interest rates cannot fall below zero, since potential lenders would then hold cash rather than lend at negative interest rates. This is the socalled “zero lower bound for interest rates.”
In particular, conventional monetary policy seems unable to provide sufficient stimulus to the economy and address recession and deflation once the zero lower bound for interest rates has been reached. The problem is that the economy is then satiated with liquidity and the private sector is effectively indifferent between holding zero-interest-rate Treasury bills and money. In this situation, standard open-market operations by the central bank to expand the monetary base by buying Treasury bills lead the private sector to hold fewer Treasury bills and more money – but this has no effect on prices and quantities in the economy. When this “liquidity trap” occurs, expanding liquidity (the monetary base) beyond the satiation point has no effect. If a combination of a liquidity trap and deflation causes the real interest rate to remain too high, the economy may sink further into a prolonged recession and deflation.

November 12, 2012

Japan economy shrinks as China dispute takes toll

Elaine Kurtenbach at USA Today writes:

Japan’s economy contracted in the latest quarter, signaling that like Europe it may already be in recession, further weighing down world growth. On an annualized basis, the world’s No. 3 economy shrank 3.5% in the July-September quarter, the government reported Monday. It was in line with gloomy forecasts after Japan’s territorial dispute with China hammered exports that were already weakened by feeble global demand……

Rajeshni Naidu-Ghelani at CNBC writes that Japan’s recovery depends on global demand:

Izumi Devalier, Japan economist at HSBC in Hong Kong backed that sentiment saying Japan’s economic development over the past decade shows that it’s been extremely dependent on exports and external demand.

“Sad to say, Japan will have to wait for the overseas economies to pick up before it sees its own economy really lifted,” Devalier told CNBC.

August 13, 2012

Gary Shilling: Global Slowdown, Only Time Can Heal the Economy

Gary Shilling: If we have a consumer-led recession it will be very different to previous post-WWII recessions which were always led by the Fed.

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July 10, 2012

Laffer: Increasing taxes will cause a double-dip recession

Art Laffer of Laffer Associates warns that attempts to increase taxes on the top 2% of earners will drive the economy back into recession: “They employ everyone else, invest capital and provide the economic recovery” he said.

http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000101378.

July 7, 2012

The Threat From a Recession | ECRI

The Economic Cycle Research Institute, which claims a perfect recession-forecasting record, says an economic contraction is imminent. “We have not seen a slowdown where year-over-year payroll job growth has dropped this low without a recession,” ECRI states in a May report.

If, or when, the U.S. (and/or the global) economy does start to contract, commodity prices will tumble because of three factors…..

via The Threat From a Recession | News | News and Events | ECRI.

May 14, 2012

CNBC: Is the US headed for another recession?

Lakshman Achuthan of ECRI sticks to his forecast of a double-dip:

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