April 19, 2005
EVEN THEIR GOOD NEWS IS BAD:
Euro zone's pick-up looks like just a blip (Paul Meller, April 19, 2005, International Herald Tribune)
Surprisingly upbeat assessments of the euro-zone economy's first-quarter performance were discounted on Monday even by those issuing them, with some of the largest countries teetering on the edge of recession and warnings that a renewed climb in oil prices and the strong euro would drag on growth again.Both the European Commission and the central bank in Germany - Europe's largest economy - reported a spurt in first-quarter growth after the sharp slowdown at the end of 2004.
The Bundesbank said on Monday that the German economy "probably grew markedly in the first quarter." Its president, Axel Weber, told reporters in Washington on Sunday that the rate was estimated at 0.5 percent.
Half a percent is markedly and overstated? Posted by Orrin Judd at April 19, 2005 8:15 AM
It doesn't say that this is the interpolated annual rate, as quarterly growth is usually reported in the US, so this would imply, all other things being equal, an annual growth of 2%. For the Euro zone, that would be marked growth, particularly coming off a contracting economy in the 4th quarter.
Note all the emphasis put on the "too high" Euro, which I thought was a sign of how much better their economy is than ours.
Posted by: David Cohen at April 19, 2005 9:10 AMHalf a percent is markedly and overstated?"Probably". Posted by: Kirk Parker at April 19, 2005 1:50 PM