Climate stress tests have emerged as a key tool for looking into the financial system’s vulnerability to climate risks. Banks’ exposure to climate risks stems from (1) physical risks that are closely related to geography, and (2) transition risks mainly from loans to carbon-intensive sectors. Exercises by the ECB and BoE suggest that banks’ credit losses in a disorderly transition would be higher than in an orderly transition scenario, and even higher in a “hot house world” with unabated global warming. Banks would be able to absorb climate-related losses due to strong capital buffers. Results are subject to data limitations and modelling constraints. So far, climate stress tests are declared learning exercises with no direct implications for capital requirements. However, supervisors are urging banks to set up a comprehensive climate risk management. [more]

In our new series ‘Making Sense of Space’ we discuss various aspects of the Space ecosystem. The third episode dives into the future of space stations and habitats. Edison Yu, lead on research coverage of Space & Aerial Mobility, speaks with Amir Blachman, Chief Investment Officer of Axiom Space. [more]

For more than a decade, European banks have sought to catch up and narrow the gap to their US peers. For many years, they were not particularly successful, due to a number of reasons: economic growth in the US outpaced that in Europe, interest rates were consistently higher (and never negative) on the other side of the Atlantic, and restructuring and capital raising needs were greater in Europe which constrained the banks’ ability to expand their business. In the past few years, however, European banks’ performance has indeed improved and they have not just made substantial progress, but also seem well positioned to finally reduce the distance to their US competitors. [more]

We look at the expected recession in the winter half-year 2022/23 and the onset of recovery, how inflation will peak, while the labor market loses momentum and private consumption is hit by the loss of purchasing power. Construction and Capex spending are set to deteriorate. Fiscal policy continues to lean against the headwinds but should normalize somewhat. Loan growth, both with corporates and private households, may slow substantially. In a medium-term perspective, we discuss risks for the manufacturing industry and Germany’s geopolitical and competitive position. [more]

No industrial sector in Germany has been affected as severely by the gas shortage and higher gas prices as the chemical industry. The industry's production level in October 2022 was 22.5% lower than in the 4th quarter of 2021. The prospects for the chemical industry in Germany have also deteriorated in the medium term. [more]

It will be a bumpy turn. The turn, we believe, is increasingly upon us, with shifts underway in the key global macro narratives that have impacted EM this year - Fed tightening, Ukraine conflict and China's struggles with Zero Covid Strategy. [more]

George Saravelos, Head of FX Research, shares his views on the dollar outlook and most and least favourite currencies in 2023 in this new ‘Q&A with’ interview. [more]

The global outlook is moving in a stagflationary direction.
— Inflation momentum has continued to build, leading to central bank tightening that will slow growth across the key economies.
— Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has disrupted key
commodity markets and supply chains [more]

People often ask me how we choose our themes of the year ahead. It is not a hard science, but there is a framework we use. It starts by asking the following question: “What policies and developments in the economic, business, and political world are unsustainable, and what will it take for them to become sustainable?”. [more]

Peter Hooper, Global Head of Economics Research, Matt Luzzetti, Chief US Economist and Mark Wall, Chief European Economist, discuss the world outlook 2023 as we find ourselves at a defining moment for the global economy. Inflation is running at multi-decade highs, central banks are pursuing their most aggressive tightening cycle in a couple generations, and a recession is now increasingly expected in the US and Europe. As 2023 nears, there is a growing consensus that it is shaping up will be the third-worst year for global growth so far in the 21st century, behind only the pandemic year in 2020 and the aftermath of the financial crisis in 2009. [more]