Households facing a rising value of assets are likely to increase their consumption, and this is called the “wealth effect.” In addition, a rise in asset values, such as those of stock prices, will make people’s sentiment more upbeat. This improvement in sentiment is also an important factor in households increasing their spending.
This is without doubt a well chosen topic, which is also highly relevant in the Euro Area and in Austria. •  The REI shows that especially the Central European countries are growing at a healthy pace, while Russia, Ukraine and the rest of the CIS countries are in recession, mainly because of Russia.