Innovation in The Monday Briefing
Who made money in 2019?
2019 was a good year for financial markets and investors, with global equities up 27% over the course of the year. All major asset classes ended 2019 up on the year and risk assets were clear outperformers.
Global stocks rallied through most of last year, punctuated by short-lived sell-offs driven by rising trade tensions in May and worries about US growth in August. Risk assets largely shrugged off geopolitical concerns around the Middle East, Russian interference in foreign elections and growing US-China discord.
Equities were supported by unexpected monetary easing by the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank (ECB) designed to bolster growth. At the end of 2018, financial markets had expected the Fed to raise interest rates and the ECB to end its programme of quantitative easing in 2019. Instead, the Fed made three 25bps rate cuts and the ECB reduced interest rates and eased monetary conditions.
What happened over the Christmas holidays
This week’s briefing looks at some of the big economic events of the last month or so. As a result we have dropped our usual news section this week. We will release our full year-ahead view for the UK and global economies next Monday, 13 January.
And finally…
Here, to mark the start of the Christmas week, are twelve of our "and finally" news stories from the Monday Briefing in 2019. The Monday Briefing is taking a break until Monday, 6 January. In the meantime, the Deloitte Economics team wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
Thoughts on the UK general election
Boris Johnson’s 80-seat parliamentary majority has transformed the UK political scene. What does it mean for business and the economy? As always what follows is a personal view.
What to read this Christmas
We are publishing our annual Christmas reading list today. It aims to offer a thought-provoking break from the rigours of Christmas. All are available free and online. You can save these articles on your smartphone's or tablet's reading list. To print any use the print icons, where available, on the webpages to ensure the whole article comes out.
Christmas Quiz
Our Christmas quiz offers an eclectic test of knowledge of economics and business. The answers and a brief explanation of the factors at work are at the end of this note.
What’s the purpose of a company?
Expectations of business change over time. The tax and regulatory environment shift with the political cycle. Society’s expectations change too, and in recent years they have risen.
Crunching the credit signals
This time last year central banks in the rich world were poised to tighten monetary policy. The US Federal Reserve was expected to continue raising interest rates and the European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi had announced the end of its programme of quantitative easing.
A bumpy road for the auto industry
The car industry is a bellwether of the global economy. When global trade and growth boom so, too, do car sales. With growth slowing and globalisation under pressure, the auto industry is suffering. Car production and sales are falling across most of the rich world and in China and India. The downturn in the sector is the most pronounced since the global financial crisis.
Weaponising global networks
Globalisation has been one of the defining features of the modern era. It has been marked by the movement of goods, services, ideas, capital and people through a plethora of cross-border networks.