This has raised borrowing costs and hurt growth probably more than similar moves in the U.S. have slowed our economy. Car sales have stalled, and retail sales are so slow not even a blue-light special can help. Because Europe s public companies are more industrial in nature than those in our country, their stocks are falling as their vulnerability to the economic slowing becomes more apparent. Reforms have also slowed. While tax reform is putting more money into consumers pockets, labor reforms and other changes have been mired.
Much work remains to be done, and it won t happen if economies continue slowing.
They need global growth to support their export economies. When exports slow, that spells trouble. All in all, a pretty gloomy picture. As the table below indicates, the top-down country allocations aren t too different from one fund to the next. When you re measured against an index it pays not to stray too far, so Japan and the U.K. are almost universally the largest ponds in which the managers are catching their fish.