We live in an interconnected world and geopolitical developments in Ukraine and Syria are bound to add volatility in global geopolitical environment and influence small and large economies around the world. Further, the economic environment is undergoing an unusual shift, through unorthodox and new policy making in Japan, US and Europe. In such a situation small sized GCC economies, which are also dependent heavily on commodity prices and transit of goods, should exercise caution, and not get swayed by the rosy pictures stock markets around the world are painting.

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Caution is the word of the day GCC
Economies
 We live in an interconnected world and geopolitical developments in Ukraine
and Syria are bound to add volatility in global geopolitical environment and
influence small and large economies around the world.
 Further, the economic environment is undergoing an unusual shift, through
unorthodox and new policy making in Japan, US and Europe.
 In such a situation small sized GCC economies, which are also dependent
heavily on commodity prices and transit of goods, should exercise caution,
and not get swayed by the rosy pictures stock markets around the world are
painting.
Recent events in Ukraine and the long term unresolved situation in Syria have been the source
of many questions about long term effects to the geopolitical and economic
environment. Needless to say we live in a very interconnected and globalized world and such
events are bound to add to an increasing volatility in the global geopolitical environment that is
bound to influence economies around the world.
Such events come on the back of a very unusual economic environment whereby we are
witnessing the unfolding of unorthodox and new policy making: Japan’s monetary policy, Fed’s

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unwinding or fiscal stimulus, the Euro ever present crisis and a US stock market that seems to
no longer relate to the real economy. Therefore, regardless of the personal opinions we may
hold on any particular event it is necessary to process these events and reconcile their potential
effects with the economic decisions that we make today or that we plan to make tomorrow.
CAUTION is therefore the word that comes to mind when I reconcile geopolitical events in
progress with economic indicators coming out of several G7 economies. And therefore
CAUTION applies to smaller size economies like the UAE or the GULF that are much dependent
on both commodities prices and transit of goods. The recent over-subscription of the Dubai IPO
of Marka is a sign that ought to be evaluated carefully.
I would like to motivate my CAUTION advice by aggregating some key facts from around the
globe as it is often difficult to cut through the clout of main stream media and especially the
halo effect of the new Dow Jones records. Following are some of the warning signs around the
globe:
 Japan: Abenomics shock economic therapy is generating concerning effects: the plunging
yen has crushed the Japenese purchasing power in spite of the growth in the stock market
may have given the illusion for someone to get richer. The recent 15% correction may
make the illusion disappear, especially if the USD/JPY breaks below 102. At the end all that
will be left for the Japanese people is a soaring energy bill and ever increasing food prices.
Japanese wages have been falling for 22 straight months with a fall of 0.4% in March only.
In the latest news, Sony slashes profit outlook by 70% thanks to Abenomics.
 China: The official Chinese PMI index misses expectations. As a correlated ripple effect:
Australian PMI (greatly correlated to China) declined by more than 3 percentage points to
its lowest point in nine months (6 consequent months of contraction);
 USD: While the Dow Jones seems to continue its rally some of the fundamentals of the US
economy don’t seem very rosy, signaling once again a strong decoupling between the stock

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market and the “real” economy. The below data doesn’t give us much confidence in US
consumer spending and overall US demand.
 During the “recovery” period 2010-14 employment gains have taken place only in low-wage
industries while during the recession employment losses took place mostly in
high to mid wage industries
 While the US population has kept growing since 2007 there are approximately 1.3
million jobs less
 20% of US families don’t have at least a family member employed
 Consumer spending for durable goods in the USA has dropped 3.23% since last
November 2013
o Lower-wage industries constituted 22 percent of recession losses, but 44 percent
of recovery growth.
o Mid-wage industries constituted 37 percent of recession losses, but only 26
percent of recovery growth.
o Higher-wage industries constituted 41 percent of recession losses, and 30 percent
of recovery growth.
 As of today 56% of US citizen own subprime credit
 90% of the jobs in the USA pay an average of less than 35,000 USD per year
 Ukraine: the instability is bound to generate a more rigid contraposition between Russia
on one side and the USD & Europe on the other. While sanctions so far have been more
formal than substantial the rhetoric is increasing on both sides and there may be instability
pass onto the economic system increasing its volatility and impacting energy prices.
 EU parliamentary elections: while the EU periphery keeps on evidencing clear signs of
weakness (Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal) new elections are looming. Word from the street
is that parties against the EURO are gaining significant strength and are bound to acquire a
sizeable stake in the new European parliament. If that turns into reality there may be some
hard questions put on the plate of the European Union leadership and whether
fundamental union regulations are to be readdressed.

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Therefore, CAUTION must be the word of the day. In the post 2008 world we have accepted as
systemic a much higher volatility index which makes it a bit more difficult to evaluate wider
base economic and stock market swings. We just need to analyze the speeches of the heads of
the Central Banks to realize that they are leaving for themselves wide arrays of options
sometimes at odds with each other. Economic indicators are more difficult to read. In such an
environment positions should be short, optimism measured and cash an invaluable asset to
give investors the ability to ride with profits both the “bull” and perhaps the “bear” coming our
way.
Sources:
http://economyincrisis.org/content/all-sign-point-to-a-servant-economy
http://www.nelp.org/page/content/lowwagerecovery2014/
http://time.com/2742/nearly-half-of-america-lives-paycheck-to-paycheck/
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.nr0.htm?_ga=1.73666065.22471688.1396473081
The article is written by Luca Gorlero for Arab Business Review
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