Why the Slow Economic Recovery?

27 September, 2011 by Leave a Comment

The Vagaries of Financial UncertaintyExactly why have industrial companies around the world been slow to recover? And why did everything look so promising … and then suddenly, seem to grind to a halt?

Perhaps some insight into this dilemma was provided by the IMF’s recent World Economic Outlook.

According to Oliver Blanchard (its chief economist), there are the dual influences of a slowdown in advanced Western economies; and the overall financial uncertainty.

During the GFC, companies allowed their inventories to run down. Then, with a hint of global recovery, those same companies began replacing their depleted inventory levels. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Economic Issues, Finance, Global Scene, Investment Opportunity, Offices, Opportunities, Stability, Your Exposure Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Commercial Property to Benefit as …
The Manufacturing Sector Declines

6 September, 2011 by Leave a Comment

According to BlueScope Steel … business, governments, industry associations and unions need to share responsibility for its recent decision to reduce (by 50%) Port Kembla’s production capacity.

However, this attempt to sheet home blame serves only to deflect attention from the more fundamental (and structural) changes occurring within the manufacturing sector as a whole.

The Future of Economic Growth in a Multispeed WorldWithin his new book “The Next Convergence”, Nobel laureate economist Michael Spence makes some telling forecasts.

In his view … developing economies like China, India and Brazil (which house about 60% of the world’s population) will reach “advanced status” by 2050-60.

And the current problems facing the West — excess debt, over-consumption and poor banking practices — are not merely a cyclical aberration. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Economic Issues, Global Scene, Investment Opportunity, Market Sectors, Offices, Opportunities, Stability Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Making Sense of
The Mining Boom

31 May, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Size-wise, as a proportion of Australia’s economy … Manufacturing and Mining contribute more or less the same output.

Services rival Mining on Investment However, Mining’s investment spend is currently more than three times that being spent by the Manufacturing sector.

All the media attention has mainly been focused upon this disparity. But that doesn’t really tell you the complete story — as you can see from the first of these graphs. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Economic Issues, Market Sectors, Offices, Stability Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,