Press index

Economists and investment analysts tend to dig deep into economic and corporate growth numbers to make their point about where the economy is headed, so brokerage firm Nomura’s analysis comes as a breath of fresh air. Two exhibits track the number of times the word ‘tariff’ appears in the press and the number of times the word ‘protectionism’ appears — from this (they both rose in February but declined in March), the brokerage concludes: ‘Surprisingly, there have been no major shifts towards … trade protection yet’. Another set of two — the number of times the word ‘inflation’ and ‘deflation’ appear, the first is declining and the latter rising — exhibits gets Nomura to conclude that ‘inflation fears have ebbed … although deflation fears have remained’.