The four big questions for global investors

GLOBAL

Good things may come in threes, but as the days lengthen and the temperature lifts a little after a long, hard winter, four big questions face the world economy:

  1 Is the US being hit by a ‘spring swoon’? Fears of a repeat of the US economy’s regular ‘spring swoon’ – when high hopes at the start of each of the past three years were subsequently dashed as data disappointed – have been allayed by a run of strong figures in recent weeks. An above-expectations rise in employment of 165,000 in April partially allayed fears. Unexpectedly broad-based gains in retail sales in the same month provided further confirmation. Positive revisions to both employment and sales for February and March also point to the possibility of 2013 Q1 GDP growth, w...