Economy
German Open Ended Funds Will Close Down, Germany Recovers Fast
Nov 4th
Two of Germany’s open end funds platforms, Aberdeen’s DEGI Europe and Morgan Stanley’s P2-Value, have decided after a two year closing period that they will close the funds and sell all of their buildings.
Most of the investors that have put money into those funds are institutional investors, large funds of funds, and are now under pressure from their investors to pay the money back. Because most of the money is in real estate assets and there is not that much liquidity left in the funds to repay the investors, management has decided to close the funds, collecting fresh money from new investors or selling some buildings to meet the request from investors who want to get out. More >
Latin America Looking Even Better, the Caribbean Still Recuperating
Nov 3rd
The World Economic Outlook recently released by the IMF states that the economies in Latin America and the Caribbean will grow by 5.7%; certainly just “a bit” of an increase over the 4.3% estimated at the outset of 2010. The report mentions that the region is growing at a faster pace than expected due to solid macroeconomic policies, consolidated and stable policy support, favorable external financial conditions and strong commodity revenues. An additionally interesting observation is that Mercosur (a trade federation founded in 1991 comprising countries of southern South America – Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina) has emerged as the GDP growth champion so far this year. All those members are expected to enjoy growth rates exceeding 7%. Argentina and Brazil are estimated to experience rates of 7.5%, Uruguay should have 8.5% and Paraguay (the perennially overlooked southern sibling) is pegged to experience a 9% growth rate. These numbers place the Mercosur countries among the top five in the entire region! And, as you may have surmised, Paraguay may well be the region’s economic growth champion by year end. The strong growth in the region is attributable to strong domestic demand (so much so that some global economists are worried that it will lead to economic overheating in some countries), a powerful and stable increase in investment (mostly domestically derived funds and capital returning to the local markets after being invested overseas for a number of years) and healthy exports driven by Chinese and Asian demand and by the demand derived from the slow but steady recovery of the U.S. economy. More >
Europe in Terminal Decline?
Aug 20th
Amongst the current overwhelming number of alarmist and depressing recent articles in the European press have been a number commenting on demographic changes from which it would appear that most of Europe is economically doomed and we would be well advised to turn off the lights and move to the emerging economies. We are told that Europe will be the only continent with a declining population over the next 25 years: the population of Russia is apparently declining by a million a year and the Germans and Spanish must be concerned to learn that their fertility rates are now amongst the lowest in the world. The UK and Ireland are apparently exceptions thanks to their immigration-friendly policies. The problem is compounded by a rapidly ageing population which will lead to an increasing burden of taxation on an ever shrinking work force. More >
Dr. Linneman: Watch for Job Growth in Healthcare and Education
Aug 16th
Below is an excerpt of Dr. Peter Linneman’s Global Economic Outlook presentation on July 21, 2010. To listen to the full presentation, click here. More >
Dr. Linneman: I Remain Bullish on Multifamily
Aug 13th
Below is an excerpt of Dr. Peter Linneman’s Global Economic Outlook presentation on July 21, 2010. To listen to the full presentation, click here. More >
