A brightening picture across the Pond

ON US

It seems as soon as the countdown to the 31 December 2012 fiscal cliff deadline passed, the US found itself fast approaching a new countdown as Washington's attention turns to the matter of the debt ceiling.

Despite the full force of the fiscal cliff being averted at the eleventh hour, in reality there is still much to be clarified in terms of future fiscal policy as the spending cuts portion of the cliff was only postponed until the beginning of March.  Frustratingly for many, the environment of heightened uncertainty has remained as 2013 gets underway. However, looking beyond the debates still to be had in Washington, the US economy is continuing to progress in the right direction regardless. As numerous surveys have demonstrated, US manufacturing is strengthening, the housing market is...