Some basic data [latest]

==Latest GDP growth 1.5%
==GDP growth expected for 06 1.6%
==Industrial Production growth 1.0%y/y
==Unemployment 9.05 8.4%
==trade balance positive $47.3bn trend downwards
==Current account positive $1.4bn trend downwards
==Budget balance 05 negative 2.8% of GDP

Short news

== The strong riots in France are calming down after government approved to take steps to improve the unemployment situations especially in the suburbs of the big cities.
== After the constitution for EU was rejected doomsayers forecasted a total break down. Thereafter it started to become a "deep crisis" only. Now after European officials and politicians return from holidays one might even asking: what crisis? Everything is back to normal. The basic problem boils down to the fact that enlargement is over. But enlargement was a problem anyway. So nothing much is lost. The past few weeks have shown the EU can work perfectly well without a constitution.
== Looks we are going to see an uptick of the economy despite the heavy oil price increases. The latest figures show a sligth increase in industrial production but a much better increase in orders. The trade surplus diminished in the latest reporting period meaning that imports are growing faster than exports a sign that the local demand is picking up. Especially in Germany the doomed country up to now confidence is building up. Let's see what will happen.
== Current accounts surplus with US$42.1bn still high but its trade surplus is decreasing.
==European economic growth is with 1.4% for the current year just barely positive
==Unemployment stands at l 10.2% in France but stands at nearly 25% among workers under 25, That makes the bank's insistence on keeping rates at 2% to fight inflation less and less tenable --especially since even the bank admits that inflation is running below its target rate.
== The tide seems to be shifting in Europe toward less regulation
== Inflation (CPI) reaches 2.1%y/y in June, a touch above the 2% accepted by ECB.
== Industrial production in May 05 was with a growth of 0.1%y/y more or less flat.
==Industrial production increased in July by 0.5% year on year. While most of the European countries had a negative development Germany's saved the day. The Euro areas current account surplus narrowed to $10.3bn, the smallest surplus for more than 3 years.

Europe better than it looks?
For sceptics the EU offers a miserable sight and will remain so. But if they took another look from another angle they might see an altogether different picture. The growth rates of economy reached in the third quarter of 05 the fastest growth for 1.5 years, with consumer spending up and exports down. The latest polls show an increase in confidence in the economy. Whether the recovery lasts will depend from the creation of jobs. But there are some hopeful signs, as the unemployment rate has fallen in recent months.
While sceptics believe that Europe is growing slower then the US The facts are that over a period of 5 years economic growth an employment are rather the same. Th fact that Euro area has a chief its growth without enormous increases in its current account and budget deficits might also indicate that its record is more sustainable than America’s

EUROPEAN MIGRATION FROM EAST TO WEST
Big migration in Europe is not new. After the collapse of communism, millions moved abroad for political reasons. But this one is driven by economics not politics, and largely legal not illegal.
The old EU countries have fully opened their doors to workers from the new members, But now some central European countries especially Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, are worried that too many of their best people are leaving for higher pay and a better life.

How strong a power is the European Union?
When it chooses to pursue a truly federal policy, the EU can play a decisive role on the world stage. The EU acting together is more effective than the sum of its parts. It is trade where Europe’s softy power is coming from.
The EU accounts for between a third and a fifth of the world economy, depending on how you set exchange rates. The Euro is the second most heavily traded world currency. Europeans hold huge external assets and liabilities. Europeans wield economic power to go with their weight. Four of the members of the G8 group of rich countries are European. Yet despite it all, Europeans are surprisingly passive when it comes to setting the world's economic agenda.
In the world economy as in foreign policy, Europeans cannot really agree how to distribute power among themselves, thus making the EU weaker as otherwise possible.

If you are interested to hear more please contact US