With all I discussed above I couldn’t keep this one to myself!
This chart tracks the average z-score (i.e. normalizing each series in terms of where it is tracking vs long-term average so it can be put in common comparable terms) across every country that has consumer and business confidence surveys.
In other words, it is a global barometer of economic confidence.
The first thing to note is how out there in the real world, consumers and businesses have been having a tough time in recent years — while there was no official recession, with the inflation shock, rise in rates, and exhausting (geo)political news/noise flow, we’ve basically been through a confidence recession [albeit others call it a k-shaped economy, stealth recession, vibecession, etc!].
And now, as I noted earlier, the clouds are lifting…
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