Inflation, gross domestic product (GDP) and unemployment emerged as the most mentioned trends among macroeconomics influencer discussions on Twitter during the third quarter (Q3) of 2020, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
The discussions related to inflation were largely driven by the skyrocketing triple digit annual inflation rates in countries such as Venezuela, Zimbabwe and Lebanon. The COVID-19 pandemic coupled with currency collapse has led to economic meltdown and rise in essential commodities prices in these countries, which further contributed to the phenomenal rise in inflation rates.
Gross domestic product emerged as another most mentioned trend, led by surge in discussions related to the contraction of GDP in major economies like India, the UK, France and Italy, barring China. Unemployment is the other most mentioned trend in Q3 2020, as the unemployment rate in the US declined to 7.9% in September, from 8.4% in August.
Bank of England (BoE) has emerged as the most mentioned organization among the macroeconomic influencer discussions, followed by The Federal Reserve System and The World Bank Group.
Smitarani Tripathy, Influencer Expert at GlobalData, comments: “The discussions around BoE revealed that the Monetary Policy Committee kept the interest rate at 0.1% in its meeting on 16 September, unchanged since March 2020. The UK slashed the interest rate in March to stem the economic slowdown due to the COVID-19 outbreak. BoE also kept the quantitative easing program unchanged at £745bn target for the stock of asset purchases.”
GlobalData’s Macroeconomics Influencer Platform, which tracks more than 200 leading industry experts and their discussions pertaining to the emerging trends, pain areas, new fields of innovation and other popular areas on Twitter, revealed Pedro da Costa, Senior Fed Reporter at MNI – Market News, as the top influencer during Q3 2020. Costa largely shares updates on Fed policy and financial markets.
Claudia Sahm emerged as the next top influencer among the macroeconomic experts with an influencer score of 96, followed by Steve Hanke, Professor of Applied Economics at Johns Hopkins University, with an influencer score of 84. Sahm shares updates on monetary policy, consumer spending and fiscal stimulus.
