Monthly – Seite 6 – legonomics

The German economy in January 2020 – before the virus hits

While the last „Monthlies“ pointed to a plateauing of the German economy (cf. here and here), the beginning of January marked the point where everybody began to take the threats emanating from the Corona-virus seriously. However, since the economic impact was only starting to gain traction, it is quite interesting to see how the German economy evolved prior to this crucial chain of events. But, hey, let’s look into the German economy in some more detail:

The German Economy in December 2019 – step by step…

The small ray of light, posted in my Monthly of last month (here) seem to get stronger (by the month). But, hey, let’s look into the German economy in some more detail:

The German economy in November 2019 – ready to (re-)launch?

Throughout 2019 I never thought, that I’d post this title at the end of the year. However, given the developments of the last two months (September – plateau already? / October – against all odds) it seems appropriate. But, hey, let’s look into the German economy in some more detail:

The German economy in October 2019 – against all odds…

… seems to be an appropriate title for this month monthly: Given the last minute’s escape from a „technical recession“, combined with the latest data, last month’s asssessment that a plateau to the recession might be nigh (cf. here), is actually supported. However, some crucial facts and my gut-feeling (sorry, this is not really scientific, I know) point in another direction. But, hey, let’s look into the German economy in some more detail:

The German economy in September 2019 – plateau already?

Although some indices have improved since August (cf. my earlier report, here), the overall picture of the German economy is still grim. Is this the highly awaited plateau or rather a short breathing-space due to the annual „autumn recovery“? Before trying to answer this question, let’s look into the German economy in more details:

The German economy in August 2019 – downhill we go…

As a blogger-colleague colourfully pointed out recently, if people in the locker-room of a swimming pool start to talk about „recession“ and „inverted yield curve“, the recession „is mainstream“. Accordingly, even German forecasting instutions, rather (in)famous for not spotting recessions correctly, are at least now considering an – albeit short – recession for Germany (namely, the „Institut für Weltwirtschaft“ (IfW), cf. here). Hence, the question is not, if and when the crisis will hit the German economy (as asked last month, here), but how hard and how long the impact will be and last. And this is a rather difficult question. But, let’s look into it in some more detail:

The German economy in July 2019 – Recession ahead?

Returning from the summer holidays, the German economy does not look any better than in the previous month (here). The German GDP showing a (mild) contraction in the second quarter (cf. below), proves right the gloomy outlook of this post since September of last year (here). But, let’s look into it in some more detail:

The German economy in June 2019 – summertime

Going into the summer (holidays) the outlook for the German economy is not good – to put it neutral: As already sketched out in May (here), Germany’s economic data shows some severe cracks and it seems indeed that the (recessionary) train is now advancing fast. Let’s look into it in some more detail:

The German economy in May 2019 – severe cracks

It seems that the silver lining at Germany’s economic sky in March (here) and April (here) were indeed nothing more as the lights of the (recessionary) train advancing fast. Already a superficial review of Germany’s economic data shows some severe cracks in the success story of the last years – although it still stands to question whether an actual downturn is already „around the corner“. Still some indicators (insolvencies, ZEW) are positive:

The German economy in April 2019 – Recovery! Really?

The silver lining at Germany’s economic sky anticipated in my March monthly (here) got even brighter in April 2019. But, as we will see in the following, the positive development hinges on particular factors, which might not last long. But let’s go through the data in the usual order: