William De Vijlder

Successful market timing between equities and cash requires high skill levels. Very low official interest rates, through their impact on market rates, create a disincentive for doing market timing because they increase the break-even skill level. The same applies for quantitative easing. These considerations are important from a financial stability perspective. Growing investor reluctance to do market timing will probably lead to a decline in equity market volatility and an increase in equity valuations. The former provides a false sense of safety whereas the latter increases the sensitivity to negative news and hence increases the riskiness.

Recent data show business and consumer sentiment has peaked and real GDP growth is expected to slow down whilst
remaining well above potential. A key factor in this respect is the self-reinforcing interaction between spending, company
profits and employment, against a background of easy monetary and financial conditions. In using the popular metaphor,
until recently, the economic sky looked quite blue but clouds have been gathering. The message of central banks should
become a bit more hawkish, in the US, political disagreement influences the economic agenda of the Biden administration
and China is going through a major adjustment phase. Most importantly, supply bottlenecks continue to weigh on growth
whereas the jump in gas and energy prices is raising concerns that inflation might stay high for somewhat longer.

When the pick-up in inflation during a growth upswing is driven by the demand side, inflation is considered to be good. However, inflation can also be bad. In that case, higher prices do not follow from e.g. higher wages due to a tight labour market. Bad inflation rather reflects supply-side shocks. This is, to some degree, the situation that is unfolding in the Eurozone and other economies due to the recent huge increase of oil and gas prices. Bad inflation weighs on households’ real disposable income and hence spending. The impact is expected to be larger for households at the lower end of the income distribution, considering that a bigger portion of their expenditures goes to fuel and in particular heating, and that they also have a lower savings rate.

Judging by recent survey data, it seems many advanced economies are hitting against their speed limit in terms of economic growth. This has several consequences. It creates upside risks to inflation, something which is acknowledged by the Federal Reserve and the ECB. Labour shortages can cause faster wage growth but they should also underpin consumer confidence and spending. Supply bottlenecks should boost company investments. However, when growth is at the speed limit, future economic volatility may increase. Finally, it also creates an analytical challenge in understanding whether softer business surveys are demand or supply driven.

Annual inflation has reached 5.3% in the US in June. Its drivers are still very concentrated but there is concern that they will spread. Anecdotal evidence is accumulating that price pressures faced by companies are increasing. Price pressures as reported in the ISM survey send the same signal. Historically, they have been highly correlated with producer price inflation and consumer price inflation but the transmission depends on factors such as pricing power, competitive position, labour market bottlenecks, etc. The next several months will be crucial for the Federal Reserve and for financial markets, considering the Fed’s conviction that the inflation increase should be temporary. The bond market has bought into this view thus far but, going forward, its sensitivity to upside surprises to inflation should be higher than normal.

A conjunction of developments has led in the first semester of the 2021 to a global improvement in business and consumer sentiment in advanced economies. Vaccination campaigns gathered speed while the number of new infections declined. Monetary policy support also played a part as well as fiscal policy. International trade and capital flows created international spillover effects which led to a sizeable improvement in the assessment of export orders.

A combination of positive developments has led in the first half of the year to a broad-based improvement in business and consumer sentiment in advanced economies: successful vaccination campaigns, a declining number of new infections, ongoing policy support and positive international spillover effects. Gradually, the ‘mechanical’ recovery in sectors which previously had suffered from restrictions is expected to lose steam. Supply bottlenecks and certain price increases may end up acting as a headwind. The growth cycle, despite a gradual slowdown, is far from over but neither is the fight against Covid-19. There is increasing concern that new variants would lead to precautionary behaviour, thereby weighing on certain spending categories. This concern has already triggered a significant decline in bond yields, despite concerns that in the US inflation might stay higher for longer. It also means that central bank policy guidance will be a key point of attention in the second half of the year.

The first half of the year has seen a broad-based improvement in business and consumer sentiment in advanced economies but elevated levels of business surveys reduce the likelihood of further significant increases. The third quarter is expected to see the peak in quarter-over-quarter GDP growth this year. Nevertheless, over the remainder of the forecast horizon –which runs until the end of next year- quarterly growth is expected to stay above potential. This favourable outlook for the real economy brings challenges for financial markets. Surprising to the upside in terms of earnings will become more difficult. Moreover, there is the question of the inflation outlook. For the time being, both the Federal Reserve and markets are relaxed about it but we should expect that over the coming months, the market sensitivity to growth and inflation data will be higher than normal in view of what they would imply for the Fed’s policy stance.

The labour market should play a crucial role in the recovery through its impact on household income and spending. There are reasons to be hopeful considering that recent business surveys show a further increase in hiring intentions whereas unemployment expectations of households have dropped below their pre-pandemic level. Household intentions to make major purchases over the next 12 months have already increased and this trend should continue on the back of an improved financial situation and reduced income uncertainty.

William de Vijlder, BNP Paribas Chief Economis is interviewed by Anna Edwards and Mark Cudmore on “Bloomberg Markets: European Open” and discusses the delta variant issue and the outlook for economic growth.

Strong US and Eurozone GDP growth in the second and third quarters should be followed by a gradual slowdown. Due to the ‘acquis de croissance’ going into the fourth quarter, the perceived slowdown versus the third quarter could be much bigger than what shows up in the current forecasts. In the US, the current elevated inflation will take time to decline. In conjunction with slowing growth, this could boost the stagflation narrative. Such a depiction of the economic environment seems unwarranted however, considering that inflation should decline further in the first half of next year and that the US economy should continue to grow above potential.  

The 1970s have gone down in history as an era of stagflation, defined as a period of slow or even negative output growth and inflation that is high by historical standards. Two supply shocks in the oil market are considered as a key cause but other factors also played a role. In the course of this year, the lifting of restrictions related to Covid-19 has caused an imbalance between supply and demand, leading to a significant pickup in inflation. There is concern that growth, after being particularly strong, will slow, whereas inflation might stay elevated for longer. This has given rise to comments that stagflation, albeit in a lighter version, could make a comeback. However, this risk seems limited.