The marked decline of oil prices gives some impetus to business activity in the euro area. However, medium-term prospects are dominated by lack of aggregate demand and very low inflation; moreover, the lacking possibility of currency de- or re-valuation, notably the under-valuation for Germany,...

The US economy overcame the slowdown registered at the beginning of the year in the second quarter of 2014. The high unemployment rates in some EU countries have declined slightly recently. The UK experienced continuing expansion in the second quarter of 2014, and Spain saw the upswing gain...

Leading indicators are signalling an early revival of business activity in Austria, supported mainly by the catching up of investment so far withheld and by strengthening foreign demand from key destinations like Germany and the USA. Still, the momentum of the recovery remains muted as private...

Economic output stagnated in the USA in the first quarter of 2014, while the upturn continued in the UK, and economic activity gathered steam in Spain. The increase in the value added tax rate in Japan was preceded by extensive household purchases in anticipation of that increase. China's...

World trade growth did not accelerate further as expected in the first half of 2014, but slackened again. The reason for this development lies in the weak import demand of many emerging market economies, a consequence of the capital flight following the announced trend reversal of US monetary...

A further slackening of global trade in the last few months is holding back an export-led recovery in the euro area as well as in Austria. Since many countries have not yet digested the repercussions of the financial market crisis, also domestic demand remains feeble, unlike in the USA. In...