The German economy clearly moved up a gear in the first half of 2017. At an annual rate, real gross domestic product (GDP) growth came in at 2.7%, the strongest since the first half of 2011.
The unexpected increase in the German population to an estimated 82.8 million as a result of the influx of refugees has sparked a debate on just how reliable population projections are.
We expect the German economy to grow by 1.5% in 2017 after 1.9% in 2016. Consumption remains the driving force. We expect the global economic activity to pick up somewhat. The US economic outlook is surrounded by elevated uncertainty.
In December 2015, we analyzed asset yields of households in several eurozone countries for the years 2010 to 2014. The results were, at least for German households, sobering: Together with Austria, they showed the lowest yields, clearly below 3%.
Finding solutions for how to deal with the impacts of climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our time. It is the least and less developed countries which are the most affected by increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events such as droughts or floods, while being the least capable of coping with them.
Equity markets plummeted in the early weeks of this year. Even the risk of a global financial crisis did the rounds. This was fueled by deep concerns about the outlook for the global economy.
Almost seven years may have passed since the collapse of Lehman Brothers set the latest global economic crisis in motion – yet the lingering feeling of crisis remains.