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Edward Hugh 152 posts 0 comments

Ed was a macro economist based in Barcelona, who specialized in growth and productivity theory, demographic processes and their impact on macro performance, and the underlying dynamics of migration flows.

He was a lovely person and a prolific blogger in his time. Ed’s analyses can be found on his “Don’t Shoot the Messenger” blog on www.economonitor.com, at the India Economy Blog, A Fistful of Euros, Global Economy Matters and Demography Matters. He was a founding member of all these weblogs.

Economy

Japan’s Economy Fights For Air

Edward Hugh May 3, 2011

With the arrival of the first real Japanese data since the Tsunami struck the immensity of the tragedy which Japan is passing through is only now gradually becoming apparent. Exports were down by a seasonally adjusted 7.7% in March over…

Economy

Global Manufacturing Slips Back Slightly In March

Edward Hugh Apr 4, 2011

By Edward Hugh Evidence which would enable us to assess the full economic impact of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami is still hard to come by. There is a lot of talk of supply chain disruptions, but little in the way of detailed…

Economy

Surely There Is Nothing “Funny” About What Is Going On In Japan?

Edward Hugh Mar 20, 2011

By Edward Hugh As Japanese officials continue to toil away in what we all hope will be a successful bid to avert a worst case nuclear meltdown, even while thousands of Japanese remain missing and unaccounted for, financial market…

Economy

Turkey’s Audacious Experiment In ‘Post Modern’ Monetary Policy

Edward Hugh Jan 8, 2011

By Edward Hugh The recent decision of the Turkish Central Bank to lower rather than to raise interest rates in an risky attempt to quench the inflation flames that many feel are threatening to engulf what some call an “overheating”…

Political Economy

Another Lesson In How Not To Go About Things From The EU Commission

Edward Hugh Nov 29, 2010

The decision by EU Commissioner Olli Rehn to appear before the world's press today, and inform the assembled throngs that, as far as the EU Commission could see, Spain will not be sticking to its 6% of GDP fiscal deficit commitment next…

Economy

Greece Is Almost Certainly “On Track” – But Towards Which Destination Is It Headed?

Edward Hugh Nov 28, 2010

Along with the EU and IMF we can be in no doubt: the reform programme evidently is on track. The only issue which seems to divide everyone – and especially those office-bound Fund employees from their more financially savvy…

Economy

Spain’s Troubling Unemployment Statistics

Edward Hugh Nov 1, 2010

by Edward Hugh Spain’s statistics office continue to issue worryingly confusing press releases. The latest example is one published in connection with the quarterly labour force survey which came out last Friday. Now the data the INE…

Economy

What Goes Up…

Edward Hugh Oct 31, 2010

by Edward Hugh Spain’s troubled banking sector is back in the news again. Despite the apparently successful stress tests carried out over the summer problems persist, and don’t seem likely to go away soon. Foremost among these is the…

Economy

An Unusual But Interesting Argument Which May Help To Understand Why QE2 Is Now Almost Inevitable

Edward Hugh Oct 16, 2010

by Edward Hugh For reasons which aren’t worth going into now, I’m reading through a recent report by Deutsche Bank Global Markets Research entitled “From The Golden To The Grey Age” this afternoon. The report (all 100 pages of it, many…

Economy

Estonia’s Now-You-See-Me Now-You-Don’t Inflation Rate

Edward Hugh Oct 11, 2010

by Edward Hugh Just to follow up on my recent long Estonia post, a couple of new data points have caught my attention recently: the sharp rise in Estonian inflation and the ongoing goods trade deficit. In the first place it is worth…