Barron’s (November 12)
“Germany’s economy, historically the powerhouse of Europe, is going through a rough patch. Its reliance on Russian energy and trade with China will have to be scaled back and new sources of growth found.” The nation’s GDP “declined in the third quarter, bringing down the rest of the euro zone with it,” and the OECD now “expects Germany to be the second worst performer in its group of 30 advanced economies this year, ahead only of Argentina.”
Tags: Argentina, China, Economy, Europe, GDP, Germany, Growth, OECD, Powerhouse, Reliance, Russian energy, Trade, Worst performer
Investment Week (October 11)
“European and US IPO activity has shown ‘signs of thawing’ throughout 2023, as the number of issuances slowly rise,” though hesitance is expected to remain until economic stabilization more fully materializes. The same data from PwC’s latest IPO Watch revealed “mainland China continued to dominate IPO numbers throughout last quarter, accounting for almost 35% of global IPO issuance and raising $11.7bn, followed by the US ($9.3bn) and India ($2.3bn).”
Tags: 2023, China, Dominate, Economic stabilization, Europe, India, IPO, IPO Watch, Issuances, PwC, Thawing, U.S.
Guardian (September 21)
“Europe’s apparent rightwards drift is not a fait accompli. But there is a risk that, as mainstream parties accommodate more and more of the radical right’s agenda, it becomes one. Years of austerity, followed by the pandemic and the Ukraine-related cost of living crisis, have led to chronic economic insecurity for less well-off Europeans. That has created an opening for ugly political movements and populist leaders to exploit.”
Tags: Austerity, Cost of living, Crisis, Economic insecurity, Europe, Exploit, Mainstream, Pandemic, Populist, Radical right, Rightwards, Risk, Ugly, Ukraine
Washington Post (September 12)
“After decades of relying on the U.S. security umbrella, many European policymakers are aware that an investment in Ukraine’s security is a down payment on their own. Their efforts are accelerating, but not fast enough to negate the potentially catastrophic fallout of a U.S. withdrawal.”
Tags: Accelerating, Catastrophic, Europe, Fallout, Investment, Policymakers, Relying, Security, Security umbrella, U.S., U.S. withdrawal, Ukraine
Investment & Pensions Europe (September Edition)
“Continental Europe appears to have largely escaped the trend known in the US as the ‘Great Retirement Boom’, where an economically comfortable cohort of 50 to 64-year-olds has retreated from work in the post-COVID period.” In contrast, labour market participation in the EU is increasing among the over-55s and “the EU expects the proportion of economically active over-55s to continue increasing, reaching around 72% by 2040.”
Tags: 2040, Cohort, Comfortable, Economically active, EU, Europe, Great Retirement Boom, Labour market participation, Over-55s, Post-Covid, Trend, U.S., Work
New York Times (August 13)
“Across the country, a profound shift is taking place that is nearly invisible to most Americans. The nation that burned coal, oil and gas for more than a century to become the richest economy on the planet, as well as historically the most polluting, is rapidly shifting away from fossil fuels.” The energy transition is further along in other places like Europe, but “the United States is catching up, and globally, change is happening at a pace that is surprising even the experts who track it closely.”
Tags: Coal, Economy, Energy transition, Europe, Fossil fuels, Gas, Invisible, Oil, Pace, Planet, Polluting, Profound shift, Richest, Surprising, U.S.
Bloomberg (June 17)
“European central bankers’ price stability mission is on a collision course with the goal of combating climate change, unless they change their ways.” Ultimately, the ECB may have to institute a special category of green lending to solve what appears to be an irresolvable dilemma. “The transition to a lower-carbon economy may fuel inflation — but raising interest rates in response to that could hinder investment in cleaner energy. So monetary policy and efforts to save the planet risk working against each other, casting a shadow over the prevailing consumer-price-targeting philosophy of the past three decades.”
Tags: Cleaner energy, Climate change, Collision course, ECB, Europe, Green lending, Inflation, Interest, Investment, Lower-carbon economy, Monetary policy, Price stability, Transition
Investments and Pensions Europe (May 18)
“We’re now about half way through peak voting season in Europe and North America, which tends to take place between April and June.” Companies are fielding both a high volume and range of proposals. “At Amazon alone, there are 18 shareholder proposals going to vote in 2023, ranging from requests for human rights audits on its technology, through to disclosure around animal welfare issues.”
Tags: Amazon, Animal welfare, Disclosure, Europe, Human rights audits, North America, Peak, Range, Shareholder proposals, Technology, Volume, Voting season
Washington Post (March 9)
European leaders may “attest to a continent fully awakened to the reality of the war. But the truth is that Europe has not taken its defense seriously before now, and it cannot be strategically ‘autonomous’ until it does.” Home to 450 million people with a $17 trillion GDP, defense spending in excess of $200 billion annually, the EU needs to get its act together. “A strong, autonomous Europe benefits the United States as much as it does Europe itself: Partners working in tandem present a more formidable front against any military threat.”
Tags: $17 trillion, Autonomous, Awakened, Defense, Europe, GDP, Leaders, Partners, Reality, Spending, Strategic, U.S., War
Reuters (February 20)
“Europe, which was late to appreciate the danger posed by Putin, won’t quickly forget the lesson even if he goes.” National defense budgets are being hiked and “Europe will be paying more for its protection for years to come,” not to mention bearing costs related to supporting and rebuilding Ukraine. Still, “these costs pale by comparison with a scenario where Putin had triumphed in Ukraine. In that case Europe would now be worrying how to protect the Baltic States and Poland from his aggression. Yet even a Russia weakened by a year of war and sanctions remains a problem for Europe.”
Tags: Aggression, Baltic States, Costs, Danger, Defense budgets, Europe, Poland, Protection, Putin, Rebuilding, Sanctions, Triumphed, Ukraine, War, Weakened
