Investment Week (October 28)
“Both the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development have recommended regulators pay more attention to ESG ratings and data.” This is happening in the UK where the “government has passed legislation requiring providers of ESG ratings to be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority.” The authorization will apply to firms “whose ratings are likely to influence a decision to make a specified investment.” ESG rating firms “that both ‘produce’ and ‘make available’ their ratings will be under scope of the legislation.”
Tags: Authorization, Data, ESG ratings, Financial Conduct Authority, Government, Influence, Investment decision, IOSCO, Legislation, OECD, Recommended, Regulators, UK
Fortune (September 23)
“The OECD has lifted its prediction of global growth to 3.2% for the year, up from the 2.9% it forecasted in June. Predicted U.S. growth rose to 1.8%, an uptick from the 1.6% predicted in June. Still, the OECD warned it had not revised global or U.S. prospects for next year, and the outlook is not good” as the negative impact of tariffs has yet to fully materialize. In 2026, “global growth is predicted to drop to 2.9% while U.S. growth is set to hit 1.5% in 2026, a significant decrease from the respective 3.3% and 2.8% growth in 2024.”
Tags: 2026, 3.2%, Decrease, Global growth, Materialize, Negative impact, OECD, Outlook, Prediction, Tariffs, U.S., Uptick, Warned
IPE Real Assets (December Issue)
“There is now a virtual universal consensus amongst economists. The US has successfully navigated a soft landing and its growth outlook is the brightest of all the G7 economies. In December, the OECD published a forecast of 2.4% GDP growth for the US in 2025, versus 1.3% for the eurozone and just 0.7% for Germany. Some even suggest it is an underestimate.”
Tags: 2025, Consensus, Economists, eurozone, Forecast, G7 economies, GDP growth, Germany, Growth outlook, Navigated, OECD, Soft landing, U.S., Underestimate
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
Washington Post (May 5)
“Now Japan faces its very worst fear: flopping on the world stage.” In COVID-19 vaccinations, this “nation famed for first-world logistical competence is running dead last among the 37 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development…. This dismal performance isn’t just imperiling the Olympics — or the world’s third-biggest economy. It’s challenging basic notions about whether Japan can change at all.”
Tags: COVID-19, Dead last, Dismal, Flopping, Imperiling, Japan, Logistical competence, OECD, Performance, Vaccinations
The Economist (December 1)
“Personal income tax accounted for only 8% of total tax revenue in China last year, compared with an average of 24% in the OECD, a group of rich countries.” This is largely because tax dodging is ubiquitous. Estimates suggest “only 2% of Chinese pay any income tax.” Since “China has run a budget deficit in 21 of the past 22 years,” however, the government is now making efforts to raise collection to 15%.
Tags: Budget, China, Collection, Deficit, Dodging, Government, Income tax, OECD, Revenue
Financial Times (September 16)
“Fears of disruption following a Scottish vote for independence and intensifying conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine have damaged prospects for the world economy,” according to the latest assessment of the OECD, which lowered growth forecasts for 2014 to 2.1% in the U.S., 0.9% in Japan and 0.8% in the eurozone.
Tags: Conflict, Disruption, Economy, eurozone, Independence, Japan, Middle East, OECD, Scotland, U.S., Ukraine, Vote
Investment Week (May 19)
At just 3.6%, Japan’s unemployment rate is extremely low and this should promote inflation. “Labour shortages have already driven wages higher for part-time workers. Adding to this, the demand to provide new infrastructure for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo and the need to replace equipment should also serve to further stimulate the economy.” The OECD has forecast that “only Japan, New Zealand, and Israel are expected to grow faster than their previously forecasted GDPs in 2014.”
Tags: 2020 Olympics, Economy, Equipment, GDP, Inflation, Infrastructure, Israel, Japan, Labor, New Zealand, OECD, Shortage, Tokyo, Unemployment rate, Wages, Workers
The Economist (November 9)
“The biggest problem facing the rich world’s central banks today is that inflation is too low. The average inflation rate in the mostly rich-world OECD is 1.5%, down from 2.2% in 2012 and well below central banks’ official targets (typically 2% or just under)…. None of this means that inflation will not one day be a risk. But it is not today’s problem.”
Tags: Central banks, Inflation rate, OECD, Official targets, Risk
Financial Times (March 22)
“China is on track for a fourth consecutive decade of rapid growth and will overtake the US as the world’s biggest economy in 2016.” The prediction comes from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which predicts China’s economy will reach 8.5% growth in 2013 and 8.9% in 2014.
