Production in major industrial sectors in Germany has developed very differently in recent years under the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and energy price shock. For example, manufacturing in electrical engineering rose by 18% compared with the start of 2015. In the chemical industry, there has been a 20% decline over the same period. The differences are not only cyclical, but also structural. In the future, it will be more important to distinguish between Germany as an industrial location and the German industry. [more]

September's CPI report was released this morning. Please watch Deutsche Bank economist Justin Weidner and spokesperson Gary Ramsay debrief today's data. [more]

A double-dip recession. Hard and soft data point to a GDP contraction of about 0.3% in Q3. Despite receding inflation,we expect that private consumption will only gradually come out of its rut, as consumer confidence has remained depressed. While the overall decline in GDP over the double-dip recession (Q4 22/Q1 23 and Q3 23) will probably be less than 1 percentage point, a renewed fall in GDP provides another blow to already downbeat German confidence. This negative feedback loop will likely weigh on the economy in 2024. In particular, structural supply bottlenecks look set to hamper growth opportunities and the energy transition is likely to slow potential growth in Germany towards 0.5% and keep the inflation rate above 2%. [more]

Recent months have seen a mounting case for a US soft landing as inflation has fallen without much stress in the labour market. Yet at the same time, the global economy is now being buffeted by several headwinds and the backdrop is fragile, with sovereign bond yields at multi-year highs across the world. [more]

Company margins may soon feel the pinch from rising labour power. Recent events, like Biden joining UAW picket lines and Trump's address in Detroit, highlight the wide 'power gap' between companies and their employees. This gap is likely to shrink this decade. A new research report by Olga Cotaga and Luke Templeman reveals this and several other factors. [more]

In a new ‘Q&A with’ our US economist Amy Yang speaks about her role, highlighting how economists analyse data and closely track the Fed’s communication to forecast economic conditions. Regarding the economy, she outlines the team’s anticipation of a mild recession in early 2024, even amidst an enhanced likelihood of a soft landing. [more]

In this report, we provide an update on key developments in German politics:
#1 How to tackle the growth malaise - tax reform and cutting red tape as first steps. Despite dwindling poll numbers and weak growth prospects, the government’s appetite for sweeping structural reforms appears limited. We take a look at the government’s “10 point action plan”, the proposed corporate tax reform, and renewed efforts to cut red tape.
#2 Rise of the far-right. Sticky inflation, change-fatigue and rising immigration have contributed to rising approval rates of the far-right AfD, reaching an all-time high at 21.5% in opinion polls in recent weeks. We analyze what that means for coalition building in the upcoming regional elections (both this weekend and next year) and how this might influence the overall policy debate at the federal level.
#3 Polls suggest conservatives set to win regional elections in Bavaria and Hesse on October 8. We give an update on how Sunday’s regional elections in two of Germany’s most populous states might impact national policy-making and the likelihood of agreeing on a new set of EU fiscal rules by year-end. [more]

Once again, some see Germany as the “sick man of Europe”. This week, the 2023 ranking of the Global Innovation Index is released with Germany at rank 8, again. It does not only provide a good measure for innovation but also gives important insights into a country’s competitiveness. Indeed, there are numerous challenges especially with respect to digitalization and demographics. But Germany is also still a powerhouse in providing excellent R&D. [more]

The past decade has challenged our understanding of money as payment alternatives and new forms of currency entered our everyday lives. Digital assets such as Bitcoin have captured the spotlight, but we believe it will be central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) that will prevail. And yet, even as the transition to digital payments continues, cash does not face extinction. [more]

In March 2021 we published a report introducing our cross-sectional mean reversion factor that has been traded out-of-sample since then (Bloomberg ticker: DBRPGERU). In this new report we expand on our previous work by showing how using daily returns more efficiently improves performance even when trading weekly and demonstrate how earnings dates can boost predictive power by avoiding trading against the post-earnings drift. We also introduce an approach to improve the signal using trading volume and propose a turnover control approach that can enhance capacity while preserving performance. [more]