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More great stuff from the excellent Damien Boey today:
European growth has slowed sharply in recent quarters. In 4Q, GDP expanded by a meagre 0.2%. This followed another meek 0.2% growth reading in 3Q. Year-ended growth has slowed to 1.2% in 2018 from 2.7% in 2017.
Compositionally, there are reasons to be concerned as well. For example, the Italian economy has entered technical recession, straining budget negotiations with the European Union. Retail sales growth has slowed sharply, especially in the core of the euro zone. Slower consumption growth is worrying, because it means that the recent collapse in industrial production is more than just an inventory correction.
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About the author
David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific's leading geo-politics and economics portal.
He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.