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Thread: weekend commentary - Asian expert's predictions for the 2007 US economy ...

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    Default weekend commentary - Asian expert's predictions for the 2007 US economy ...

    (snip)"Unprecedented global geopolitical instability will have its most obvious impact on international commodity prices. More frequent energy supply disruptions in the Middle East and Africa, combined with accelerating natural oil production declines in the world’s largest oil fields, will keep crude oil and natural gas prices buoyant. Slower than anticipated global economic growth will not push oil prices lower in 2007.

    Production discipline - much greater than generally understood - among the world’s major oil exporters will ensure oil supply growth remains below demand growth. The continued rise of global energy prices in 2007, paired with growing demand for renewable energy, will produce further strong increases in international grain prices. In 2006, corn and wheat prices in the US jumped by 70% and 60% respectively. Much of this jump occurred between September and December.

    Rapid growth of ethanol production capacity worldwide has contributed to this leap in corn and wheat prices. Prices for soybeans and other oilseeds have also begun to head higher on the back of rapidly growing global demand for biodiesel fuel. The substantial increase in petroleum-related energy prices since 2001 is only one factor behind growing demand for biofuels. Increasingly stringent environmental regulations, energy security concerns and targeted levels for alternative energy use in many countries is also driving demand for biofuels.

    Inflation and recession
    The growing use of corn, wheat, soybeans and other grains to produce biofuels is expected to nearly double prices for these commodities in 2007. In addition to grain-related foods, prices for other food staples that are grain-dependent, including meat and milk products, will also head higher in 2007. The result will be much higher than expected US inflation. Consumer price inflation (CPI) in the US is already significantly higher than CPI in Germany, Switzerland, the UK and Japan. In 2007, US inflation will accelerate, widening the inflation gap between it and other countries.

    By every measure, inflation in the US has clearly accelerated since 2004. In 2005, the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation, the personal consumption expenditure (PCE) deflator exceeded 2% for the first time since 1995. The core PCE has continued to accelerate in 2006, and will likely top 2.5% by the end of the year. This is significant because the Fed’s stated aim is to keep core PCE between 1.5% and 2%. The steady acceleration of core PCE shows that inflation from rising energy prices has penetrated the broader US economy.

    Despite the obvious acceleration of inflation, the Federal Reserve shifted monetary policy into neutral in late summer. The Fed has justified more accommodative monetary policy in the face of rising inflation by suggesting that slowing US economic growth will eventually mitigate inflation. This is a huge gamble because US inflation is being pushed higher by supply-driven energy price shocks rather than demand. In 2007, continued energy supply shocks are likely to feed a grain supply shock, stoking a sharp increase in food price inflation and further acceleration of core PCE.

    The stated logic behind the Fed’s monetary policy change is spurious, to say the least. A 12-year-old child could grasp the idea that energy supply problems are pushing US inflation higher and that these supply problems are likely to intensify in 2007."(snip)

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    Last edited by Melonie; 12-23-2006 at 05:27 AM.

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    Default Re: weekend commentary - Asian expert's predictions for the 2007 US economy ...

    it would appear that the EU is taking the scenario of a US dollar exchange rate crash = much higher US inflation rates seriously as well ...



    (snip)"a small "cellule" inside the European Commission was ordered to draft a report, instigated by Paris, examining the legal basis under EU treaty law for 1970s-style exchange controls. It concluded that Brussels may lawfully freeze capital flows in and out of the EU, and within it, and that this could be done by a "qualified majority" of EU finance ministers, leaving Britain with no veto.

    One of its authors told me this was not an abstract exercise. It was to enable Europe to stem the rise of the euro if the dollar goes into free fall, the underlying argument being that Washington should not be allowed export the consequences of its own reckless spending policies through a "beggar-thy-neighbour" devaluation.

    The idea was to stop money coming in, though it could equally be used to stop money leaving.

    I thought of this study when French premier Dominique de Villepin lashed out this month at the over-mighty euro. "We can't let the European Central Bank act alone on the exchange rate," he said. Ségolène Royal, the new Socialist leader, upped the ante a week later, accusing the ECB of "shattering growth".

    Then on Friday the euro smashed through $1.30 to the dollar, crossing the line drawn in the sand by Paris and Berlin. This entails a near equal rise against China's yuan. Against Japan's yen, the euro has risen nearly 70pc in six years to an all-time high of Y151. Hence the move by PSA Peugeot-Citroen to build its 4x4 sportif models in Japan.

    EU finance ministers have other means short of exchange controls to bring the ECB to heel and cap the euro. Article 111-2 of the Maastricht Treaty gives them powers to shape exchange rate policy, a detail missed by the markets.

    If, for example, the Europols strike a deal with Japan to "manage" the euro-yen rate, the ECB has to adjust monetary policy to meet that objective.

    This is where it gets ugly. The ECB's Bundesbank bloc would almost certainly resist such a death blow to the bank's independence, which is why the threat of currency controls may ultimately be part of the mix. There is little Frankfurt can do to stop that.

    To quote precisely, the report reads: "Should extremely disturbing capital movements endanger the operation of economic and monetary union, Article 59 EC provides for the possibility to adopt restrictive measures for a period not exceeding six months." The freeze could be extended for another six months with a fresh vote, and so on.

    After combing through court judgments, these experts concluded that free movement of capital in the EU is not an "absolute freedom" and could be limited in an emergency.

    Heavens know where this "nuclear option" would leave the City of London, dependent for its life blood on unhindered dollar flows. Obviously, it would precipitate a membership crisis."(snip)

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