Robin Brooks · Jonathan Fortun / Institute of International Finance
US inflation was looking more like a fading supply shock than a persistent excess demand problem in this August 2023 assessment. Jonathan Fortun and Robin Brooks revisit their view that price pressures had narrowed since mid 2022 and interpret the early 2023 pickup as annual price resets. They argue that more modest underlying inflation could allow faster and larger Federal Reserve rate cuts than markets then anticipated.
Robin Brooks · Jonathan Fortun / Institute of International Finance
Do currency devaluations actually lift exports? Robin Brooks and Jonathan Fortun examine large, persistent depreciations since 1990 across advanced and emerging economies. Their July 2023 analysis finds an early increase in export volumes and a shift from external deficits toward surpluses, challenging the view that dollar invoicing prevents a meaningful trade response.
Robin Brooks · Jonathan Fortun / Institute of International Finance
Export growth strengthens after major devaluations in the historical sample examined by Robin Brooks and Jonathan Fortun. Their July 2023 analysis follows 27 episodes of real exchange rate declines exceeding 20% since 1990 across emerging and G10 economies. Larger depreciations are associated with stronger export gains, challenging claims that dollar invoicing prevents such benefits.
Robin Brooks · Jonathan Fortun / Institute of International Finance
Testing whether devaluations support growth requires identifying comparable currency episodes first. Robin Brooks and Jonathan Fortun develop an algorithm that detects 27 large real exchange rate declines across emerging and G10 economies since 1990. This June 2023 installment establishes the sample for subsequent analysis of exports and output, rather than presenting those later results.
Robin Brooks · Jonathan Fortun / Institute of International Finance
Trade links and portfolio investment gave different signals about economic separation from China in June 2023. Robin Brooks and Jonathan Fortun find little evidence of a material retreat in trade, while foreign direct investment excluding reinvested earnings remained resilient. Reduced nonresident portfolio flows instead pointed to investors cutting financial exposure, distinguishing risk reduction from a broader dismantling of commercial ties.
Robin Brooks · Jonathan Fortun / Institute of International Finance
The Silicon Valley Bank failure increasingly looked like a delayed effect of monetary tightening rather than an additional credit shock in June 2023. Robin Brooks and Jonathan Fortun argue that lending standards had not tightened separately beyond the existing rate cycle. That interpretation supported their contemporary forecast of a global soft landing and solid emerging market capital flows as inflation eased.
Robin Brooks · Jonathan Fortun / Institute of International Finance
Could euro area inflation turn into a wage and price spiral? Robin Brooks and Jonathan Fortun compare broadly shared price increases with subdued negotiated wage growth across much of the periphery. Their May 2023 analysis interprets that divergence as evidence of remaining labor market slack and a stronger role for supply shocks, making an aggregate spiral unlikely.
Jonathan Fortun / Institute of International Finance
Emerging markets attracted $9.8 billion in portfolio investment during April 2023. Jonathan Fortun separates $7.7 billion entering debt markets from $2.1 billion entering equities. Chinese equities received $3.8 billion, exceeding the overall equity total and revealing offsetting withdrawals elsewhere.