Manufacturing

As we move beyond the pandemic, economic growth rates have become less synchronized and have not yet recovered to pre-shock trends. While, for example, growth is strong in the USA, Latin America, or India, it is one step lower in some regions and countries such as China, and the Euro Area. Inflation Rates Comparison Global inflation surged during the pandemic recovery, but recent trends reveal varied inflation rates, with some countries managing to stabilize prices more effectively than others. The 0%-2% range of inflation in the past has now shifted to 2%-4%, even in Japan. Monetary Policy Divergence Monetary policies diverge as countries tailor their approaches to unique economic circumstances. For instance, the US is expected to cut rates, while Japan plans to raise rates by October. US Economic Performance The US economy has outperformed other developed markets, growing at or above trend. However, inflation, particularly driven by housing prices, remains a significant concern. European Economic Struggles Europe's economic performance has lagged, with weaker GDP and consumer spending. Climate change, demographics, and Brexit continue to hinder growth. Japan's Economic Prospects Japan is set to raise interest rates in October, driven by efforts to create domestic inflation and a virtuous cycle...

By Maia Mindel (mmindel@alphacast.io) Read more Alphacast Highlights here In this hands-on guide, we will show you how to use Alphacast Pipelines to create coincident indeces and monitor key economic variables. What is a coincident index? A coincident index provides a gauge for the movement of a key economic variable through the use of related data series. In this case, the coincident investment index mirrors two of the two largest components of GDP, Private Consumption and Private Fixed Investment. Since both indeces have a certain complexity, the methodology will be shown separately, though there are major similarities between the two. How to make the Investment Index In this case, we will show you how to create the coincident investment index. The index is divided in sections, which are weighed in accordance with their relevance to the variable at hand, and estimated using the latest available data for each. Given that the index uses the Alphacast pipelines engine and data available on the platform's database, that means that the Index will be updated to reflect it as soon as the data is uploaded in the Alphacast site - in a completely automated manner. The first step is identifying the data series...