Euro Zone at Turning Point Needs Consumers to Get Out, Spend

-- The euro zone’s economy is waiting for a resounding vote of confidence from its own consumers for its long-awaited rebound to finally take shape.Xi Begins Europe Tour in Paris as Macron Seeks to Reset Ties

But French households did spend more, and there are some more recent hints that the consumer-driven rebound could be materializing. “Spain has seen stronger employment creation than other countries, real disposal income is growing faster,” he said. “At the same time, Spain’s population is expanding substantially. That’s very important for consumption. More people coming in means more people are spending.”

Trying to work out the psyche of the region’s fickle consumers has long been a key obsession for the ECB. President Christine Lagarde recently singled out household behavior as the biggest difference between the European and US economies, highlighting generous pandemic stimulus checks from Washington and fewer concerns over crises in the Middle East and Ukraine.

On Friday, Deutsche Bank AG economists raised their 2024 forecast to predict growth of 0.3% — instead of a 0.2% contraction — saying private consumption should recover more strongly than they had originally forecast. Meanwhile a gauge of consumer expectations compiled by German retail federation HDE rose to highest since November 2021, according to a release on Monday.

With the ECB gearing up to cut borrowing costs, some incentives to save will disappear, which could fuel spending. Policymakers have signaled their intention to deliver a quarter-point rate cut in June, though Lagarde has shirked from signaling further easing beyond that for now. Brad Parscale was the digital guru behind Donald Trump's surprise victory in the 2016 election and was promoted to manage the 2020 campaign. Parscale says his company, Campaign Nucleus, can use AI to help generate customized emails, parse oceans of data to gauge voter sentiment and find persuadable voters.Nervous about falling behind the GOP, Democrats are wrestling with how to use AI

Antonio Espasa Bloomberg Consumer Demand European Central Bank Spending Consumer Confidence Consumer Spending Christine Lagarde Vote Of Confidence Germany Ahold Delhaize

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