Appendix A: Industrial and economic outlook, 2012-2017

摘要

Central banks in the Eurozone, USA and Japan all announced new rounds of support this month which cheered investors - at least initially. The sums of money to be pumped into the US and Japanese financial systems under the latest burst of quantitative easing are enormous, but they cannot address the underlying afflictions of the respective economies. Meanwhile, the European Central Bank's commitment to purchase unlimited quantities of bonds is subject to debtor countries, such as Spain, requesting a bailout. Even then, the recipient country will need to deliver austerity measures which, although necessary, will hit growth. The actions by the central banks are no panacea for the real economy, as investors are realising.