Archive

April 10, 2025
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US Travel Crashes Inflation In Mar-25

  • Downside news from February’s US CPI print extended into a March crash with a 0.2pp undershoot at -0.05% m-o-m, not just because of a 2.4% m-o-m fall in energy prices.
  • Hotels joined another sharp fall in airfares to drive the core inflation weakness. The late Easter appears responsible, similar to 2023, ahead of an April resurgence.
  • Market participants are unusually unfazed by data that does not reveal the impact of substantial policy changes. Resilience should damp dovish hopes for cuts returning.

By Philip Rush

April 08, 2025
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UK: Spillover effects from US tariffs

  • The UK output destroyed by reciprocal US tariffs is only partly due to the direct impact of the new 10% rate (worth ~0.2% of GDP) and generally weaker US prospects (0.1%).
  • Global GDP growth is depressed by this policy, indirectly destroying demand for UK exports from elsewhere (0.2%), especially if countries harm themselves by retaliating.
  • An overall 0.6% GDP hit has two-sided risks and a skew lowered by likely negotiations. Fears of items dumping into the UK market are overblown excuses for protectionism.

By Philip Rush

April 07, 2025
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US vs EU: Worse to Come

  • The response to ‘Liberation Day’ by policymakers and investors alike still falls short of appreciating the scale of the threat posed by the US, as ‘transactional Trump’ is succeeded by a president who seeks to turn the clock back to a supposedly golden era in his quest to make America great again.

By Alastair Newton

April 03, 2025
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US Tariff Impact Estimates

  • New US tariffs ignored any notion of reciprocity, reaching shockingly substantial sizes. However, the UK was relatively fortunate in landing on the 10% minimum rate.
  • Repeating 2024’s imports would raise $577bn in tariff revenue, which is worth ~3% of consumption. 70% pass-through to prices would add 2% to the level over 1-2 years.
  • Negotiations need to conclude rapidly to avoid these front-loaded price rises. The EU’s likely retaliations would magnify its pain, but the US is the biggest stagflationary loser.

By Philip Rush

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