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Economics

Chief economist update: Synchronised global slowing?

BENJAMIN ONG  |  WEDNESDAY, 4 APR 2018
The synchronised global upswing that was the stuff of investor optimism in the latter part of last year is beginning to lose momentum.

Chief economist update: Caught in the crossfire

BENJAMIN ONG  |  TUESDAY, 3 APR 2018
A full-blown trade war could morph from risk to reality. There'll be no place to hide if this happens.

Chief economist update: The survey says...

BENJAMIN ONG  |  THURSDAY, 29 MAR 2018
A slowdown in China's growth is exactly what central command wants. It's targeting growth of 6.5% this year from 6.9% in 2017.

Chief economist update: Just a hiccup in a rising trend

BENJAMIN ONG  |  WEDNESDAY, 28 MAR 2018
Consumers may not be good at predicting Wall Street's direction but they sure do impact overall economic growth.

Chief economist update: The euro's doing Trump's work in the Eurozone

BENJAMIN ONG  |  TUESDAY, 27 MAR 2018
There are still two risks to the outlook that could - if they intensify - conspire to reduce the European Central Bank's confidence in the inflation path.

Chief economist update: It's not just the trade war

BENJAMIN ONG  |  MONDAY, 26 MAR 2018
There's the trade war, an expensive equity market valuation, and the Fed.

Chief economist update: The trend is not our friend

BENJAMIN ONG  |  FRIDAY, 23 MAR 2018
The Australian Bureau of Statistics' latest update on the country's labour market is a wonderful set of (seasonally adjusted) numbers.

Chief economist update: Dot tales

BENJAMIN ONG  |  THURSDAY, 22 MAR 2018
And so it has come to pass. The US Federal Reserve did what was widely expected of it - it raised the fed funds rate target by 25 basis points to 1.5%-1.75% following its 20-21 March FOMC meeting.

Chief economist update: Home cooling

BENJAMIN ONG  |  WEDNESDAY, 21 MAR 2018
The Australian central bank would definitely welcome this orderly slowdown in property price growth, particularly in terms of its efforts to lessen financial stability risks in the economy.

Chief economist update: Plotting the dots

BENJAMIN ONG  |  MONDAY, 19 MAR 2018
Though an increase in the Fed funds rate this month might be a benign conclusion, what the Fed does after March is still up for grabs.