The following is excerpted from a 17 January 2013 commentary by Peter G. Hall of Export Development Canada.
Buyers control the bucks. What are they saying about the world economy?
Want a hot gauge of economic activity? It's probably best to go to the front lines. There are many indicators of economic activity, but they don't all tell the same story. Some are just telling us what's happening now. Others lag the economy - they are really good at repeating to us what we already know. But others lead activity - they give us a peek at the future. One of those is the purchasing managers' index, now collected for a wide array of countries. What are these 'buyers' telling us?
The story wasn't so great in the summer. Indexes for countries across the planet dipped below 50 - the growth/decline mark - signalling rough times in the coming six months. The deterioration was simultaneous, and made the world economy look like it was headed for a double-dip. Activity did not discriminate between developed and emerging markets - few economies were spared the setback.
This commentary is available in its entirety at:
http://www.edc.ca/EN/Knowledge-Centre/Subscriptions/Weekly-Commentary/Pages/is-business-growing.aspx
Topic(s)
International Trade and Border Management
Information source
Canadian News Channel
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