...despite a record increase in Movie & Sports Admission costs.

This is a direct consequence of Friedrich Merz’s green climate and energy policies...

The US economy managed to drastically reduce its trade deficit in October of last year. Data delayed due to the government shutdown highlight structural shifts in the global trade landscape.

Stronger economic data and delayed releases point to more robust U.S. growth momentum toward the end of the year...

Mobile shopping; artificial intelligence; and buy now, pay later programs contributed to a record holiday season...

...the global economy has proved resilient, even though fragilities remain, with a range of risks including "elevated policy uncertainty and rising barriers to trade".

In his international press conference on Monday, the Hungarian PM also praised Trump's Venezuela operation, and said Hungary will not fund Ukraine or accept migrants.

The depth of the ongoing recession and the now unmistakable deindustrialization of the country make it increasingly likely, week by week, that a point of no return - an economic tipping point - has already been crossed.

Friedrich Merz acts like a central planner without an ordoliberal compass. His time as a ceremonial executive at BlackRock seems not to have granted him access to the secret knowledge of market processes.

...why don’t we use what limited resources we have to fix our own problems?

The countless subsidies and state interventions financing the complex “green arts” sector, the Ukraine war, and now the military buildup constitute a direct attack on the German middle class...

Despite strong 'hard' data, that is the weakest print for ISM Manufacturing since Oct 2024...

Germany was long seen as a bastion of fiscal stability in the Eurozone. But the erratic fiscal policy of the Merz government is now creating tensions in the bond market. Risk premiums on traditional periphery sovereigns like Italy, Portugal and Spain relative to German Bunds are shrinking.

The German economic crisis is slowly but surely making its way into the balance sheets of banks. Above all, the crisis in the largely credit-financed Mittelstand is increasingly weighing on savings banks and cooperative banks.

At the turn of the year, the Foundation for Family Businesses, together with the ifo Institute, presented a corporate survey on tax policy and location attractiveness. The result is unequivocal: Germany is too expensive and no longer competitive as a business location.

...choose your own adventure: Hard or Soft data?

Trump stumped the chumps...

The turbulence that defined the U.S. economy in 2025 is expected to ease next year...

How much private credit has been put in place but isn't in the official credit total is unknown and very likely unknowable. That means total systemic risk is also unknowable...

One year into Donald Trump’s new presidency, the verdict from the data is clear: the apocalyptic consensus forecasts have failed, and the US stands as the only major developed economy combining strong growth, controlled inflation, and fiscal consolidation...