According to the recently released data, the German economy started forcefully into the year 2005. Real GDP increased with an annual rate of 4.2 percent on a seasonal and calendar adjusted basis. Growth of such a magnitude had last been observed at the start of 2001. The impulses came solely...

The cyclical recovery in Germany has come to a standstill. Following relatively high growth in the first half of 2004, real GDP stagnated in the second half. The main cause was the decline in foreign demand. Real exports only increased slightly, following a double-digit increase in the first...

Economic activity in the euro area is recovering. The economy has overcome stagnation, but so far the upswing has not materialized. In the second half of last year real GDP grew at an annualized rate of roughly 1 1/2 percent. In contrast with other large industrialized countries economy-wide...