American flag draped over the New York Stock Exchange. Getty Images
Such has been the intensity of the market’s focus on events in the eurozone in recent weeks that the performance of the American economy has barely merited any attention. At least, that has been the case in this blog, which usually tries to concentrate on the key events in global macro which are dominating market sentiment at any given time. So I have been looking across the Atlantic to check on what I might have missed.
In sharp contrast to the eurozone, the US economy has been performing better than was generally expected a couple of months ago, but it remains very vulnerable to the fiscal tightening which now seems likely next year, and to a worsening in the eurozone financial shock. This shock has not yet crossed the Atlantic with any force, but might do so before too long.
