On the surface, policy settings around the world look very inflationary with large fiscal deficits and aggressively easy monetary policies yet it is hard to see inflation gaining any traction [with] global activity so weak and the monetary transmission process so impaired in many countries. There is more of a deflationary than inflationary tone to the economic environment and it does not look as if this will change any time soon.
So says a report* from BCA Research (http://bcaresearch.com) entitled No Inflation Threat In 2013.
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The article goes on to say in further edited excerpts:
[As can be seen in the charts below] global traded goods prices are falling, wages are growing very slowly in the major economies and monetary growth is moderate. [While] central bankers have definitely softened their attitude to inflation and are prepared to take risks in the direction of higher prices in order to ensure a faster pace of growth, once economic growth does move on to sounder foundations, then policymakers’ attitudes will harden. In other words, faster economic growth is a pre-condition for a sustained major inflation problem, but an improved economy will trigger a tightening in policy. It would be a mistake to think that the current generation of central bankers believes that sustained high inflation would be a desirable solution to current debt levels.Bottom Line:
Inflation will remain broadly benign in 2013.
Editor’s Note: The author’s views and conclusions are unaltered and no personal comments have been included to maintain the integrity of the original article. Furthermore, the views, conclusions and any recommendations offered in this article are not to be construed as an endorsement of such by the editor.
*http://blog.bcaresearch.com/no-inflation-threat-in-2013 (Copyright © 2013 · BCA Research · All Rights Reserved; We support blogging as a community and therefore contents of this blog may be reproduced or republished online on the condition that full attribution is provided and at least one (1) hyperlink back to the original blog post or http://bcaresearch.com is included in the body of any republished content.)
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