europe
Worried Households in the United States, Europe and Japan
August 30, 2011
The Conference Board index of U.S. consumer confidence plunged 14.7 points in August to a reading of 44.5. It’s average score was 61.6 in the second quarter and 66.3 in the first quarter. Even those levels were quite weak compared to pre-recession norms. The last reading as low as 44.5 occurred in April 2009 when […] More
U.S.-Ezone Manufacturing Spread Swings Sharply in America’s favor
July 1, 2011
In June, the U.S. factory purchasing managers index climbed 1.8 points to 55.3, while its Euroland counterpart weakened by 2.6 points to 52.0. U.S. manufacturing thus grew faster than Euroland’s for the eighth time in the last nine months, the one exception occurring in May when the latter index surpassed the U.S. gauge by 1.1 […] More
Icelandic 7-Day Lending Rate Cut By Another 100 Basis Points
December 11, 2009
The Central Bank of Iceland slashed its key benchmark rate by a further percentage point to 10% on Thursday. Six cuts since March 19 have cumulated to 800 basis points from the peak of 18% observed after an IMF-mandated 600-bp rate hike in October 2008. After cuts of 100 bp last March, 150 bp in […] More
