The Fault in Bibi’s Perfect Budget
March 15, 2018
The passage, as well as the structure, of the 2019 state budget reflects the strange state of Israeli politics — but weirdness is inherently unsustainable.
Nothing to see here
Feburary 15, 2018 The very-long-awaited recommendations by the Israel Police regarding two (out of four, at least) investigations of Prime Minister Netanyahu, were announced last night: that the premier be indicted on charges of bribery in both cases. Whatever the strength of the legal cases (the experts differ), the political impact of this development is very limited. Even if […]
» Read moreThe Icebreaker Cometh
January 29, 2018.
Trump’s presidency is not a fleeting phenomenon, but rather ‘an icebreaker’, smashing the established structure of American politics and portending systemic change. Israel has been there and done that, with interesting results.
Services exports data for November and for Jan-Nov 2017
January 25, 2018
Bottom line: November was an(other) excellent month for service exports, which are continuing to achieve rapid rates of expansion across the board, not just in the high-tech sectors. While it is the latter that provide the main thrust, both in the narrow context of service exports and for the overall economy, the strength of the tourist sector — despite the continued rise in the shekels’s value! — is also very significant for the labour market and hence from a socio-political perspective.
Trade data for January-December 2017
January 11, 2018
Bottom line: The deficit on trade in goods for 2017 widened significantly compared to 2016 — which had jumped sharply — after having narrowed in the first half of the year. Once again, the primary driver was higher fuel prices, which alone accounted for 60% of the total year-on-year increase. Vehicle imports, on the other hand, dropped. Overall import growth was low, but still exceeded export growth. Exports were held back by weakness in electronics, although some other sectors scored strong gains.
GDP DATA: INITIAL ESTIMATES FOR NATIONAL ACCOUNTS AND OTHER KEY ECONOMIC DATA FOR FULL-YEAR 2017
January 1, 2018
Bottom line: Chugging along nicely. No big surprises, good or bad, in the early estimate for full-year data that the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) traditionally publishes on December 31. The growth was entirely domestically-generated, while import growth exceeded export growth, shrinking the surplus on current account.