Market Intelligence

Macro Consulting

The Macro Consulting team is committed to developing the solutions and tools that will help you to assess the risks and opportunities in your markets, as well as the effectiveness and impact of your business strategies.  The team’s consulting services provide practical and empirically-supported solutions using economic tools and combining strategic analysis with strong quantitative skills.

Economic Views
Economic Views is an online subscription service, providing regularly-updated economic analysis and forecasts on over 40 economies around the world, accounting for almost 90% of global GDP.  The team also produces bespoke forecasts of macroeconomic variables. 

Demand analysis
The Macro Consulting team helps clients assess the opportunities in various markets through:

• revenue forecasting using econometric analysis that links macroeconomic indicators to revenue drivers;
• target market strategy optimisation through the identification of the most attractive market segments using income distribution analysis; and
• price elasticity analysis to arrive at a product’s optimal price in a given market.

Supply analysis
We also look at the macroeconomic drivers affecting operational inputs, including labour market trends and the ability to eventually staff large-scale FDI projects.  Furthermore, the team forecasts the price of inputs, such as land, materials, labour and capital, and we also asses the existence of an appropriate supplier base through cluster analysis.

Location benchmarking
Macro Consulting helps clients choose the right location for their operations by analysing:

• the relative attractiveness of markets;
• the risks of entering new markets; and
• the relative value of locations’ ‘brands’.

Corporate affairs assistance
Finally, we assist our clients in demonstrating the value they bring to their host economies, such as by estimating a company or industry’s impact on GDP, employment and income, analysing the economic benefits to users of a company’s products and calculating the optimal indirect tax rate for a company’s products.

UK Economic Outlook and thought leadership reports

We produce the UK Economic Outlook publication three times a year. In addition to a detailed review of UK economic trends and prospects and an overview of global trends, UK Economic Outlook includes special research articles on a broad range of topics including in recent issues:

• Outlook for the public finances
• Global city GDP rankings for 2005 and projections to 2020
• The impact of migration on the UK economy
• Modelling UK house price uncertainty and implications for consumer spending
• How do inflation rates vary by income group?
• Outlook for UK business investment
• Do European M&A deals create value for shareholders of acquirers?
• Vulnerability of different industry sectors to the economic downturn
• Outlook for household disposable income and spending

In addition to UK Economic Outlook, we also produce thought leadership reports on a broad range of macroeconomic and public policy topics. In particular, we produced two major reports during 2006 looking at:

• How big will the major emerging market economies get by 2050 and how can the OECD compete?
• The World in 2050: implications of global growth for carbon emissions and climate change policy

A third report on long-term global banking trends was published in June 2007 and the two earlier 2050 reports were updated in early 2008.

Other thought leadership reports have covered topics such as long-term trends in the public finances, public and private sector pensions, the economic costs and benefits of universal childcare, carbon taxes and trading, wealth effects for the credit crunch and agent-based modelling of the UK housing market.