Global economic activity has been slowing in recent months. Economic growth in the USA and in Europe was subdued in the second quarter, and activity in Asia was also less buoyant. Against this background, concerns about the high levels of sovereign debt of some industrialised countries increased;...

World trade rebounded further in the first few months of 2010, its volume meanwhile approaching the pre-crisis level. On the back of the boom in Asia, the recovery in the USA and the depreciation of the euro, euro area exports should make good headway. Nevertheless, the cyclical upturn will...

The global economic situation eased in the second quarter, following the strong contraction in the last half-year. The USA and the euro area saw GDP shrink at a markedly slower pace compared to the two preceding quarters. The Austrian economy also contracted by a mere 0.4 percent in real terms...

Global economic conditions improved further in the third quarter of 2009: World trade and economic activity in the industrialised countries expanded for the first time in twelve months. Leading indicators point to a continuation of the upturn. The global economy will nevertheless remain fragile...

The latest data on the global economic situation, while generally suggesting a continuation of the upswing, are somewhat mixed. Growth in the USA and in South-East Asia remains robust, although it appears to have moderated in the first quarter. Private demand in the euro area continues to be...

In the first quarter of 2009, the Austrian economy shrank at a seasonally and working day adjusted rate of 2.8 percent in real terms compared with the previous quarter (after –0.4 percent in the fourth quarter of the previous year). Hence, GDP was 3.6 percent below the year-earlier level (+0.0...

Most empirical approaches to measuring potential output (PO) are based on variants of the method of trend extraction. This is also true for estimating PO on the basis of production functions. Structural approaches rely on trend extraction methods, in connection with determining potential...

Following the strong rebound observed since the autumn of 2010, the pace of global economic activity is now moderating markedly. While Asia continues to provide a strong impetus to growth, the US economy grew only modestly in the second quarter, and the latest data for the euro area also signal...

Benefiting from the depreciation of the euro in the first half of the year, euro area exports should keep their upward trend in the remainder of 2010. At the same time, however, economic growth is set to slow down somewhat in the USA and in Asia. In 2011, the cyclical upswing in the euro area...

Following buoyant growth from autumn 2010 onwards, global economic activity appears to be easing somewhat. While Asia is still providing a strong impetus to growth, latest data for the USA and the euro area point to continuing expansion in the second quarter, albeit at a slower pace. Economic...