The New European Recession

Economic statistics in recent months indicate that Europe is slipping into recession. This is more or less government policy as the response to the Euro debt crisis has been austerity which has reduced demand and output and is now causing unemployment and recession. The effect of a European recession on the stamp market will be serious. There are essentially four  worldwide stamp markets, which overlap to varying degrees but  which are largely independent of each other. They are the US-Canada market which is primarily confined to USA and Canada specialty collectors in North America. Many collectors around the word collect US but market strength is driven but demand in the US. British Commonwealth is another great philatelic market and this market is probably the most international of all stamp markets. Obviously this is the strongest collecting area in Britain but British Commonwealth stamps are the second most popular stamp specialty in just about every collecting market. This is what makes the price of British Commonwealth so stable-it would take a world wide philatelic price decline, not just weakness in one area, to affect British Commonwealth stamp prices. Asian stamps are another great philatelic market. The growth and maturity of this market has been the major change in philatelic economics in the last twenty years but as yet Asian collectors have not moved much beyond their home markets. But the biggest and strongest worldwide philatelic market is, and always has been, the European market. And Europeans don’t just collect their home country stamps either. They are serious philatelists and are contributors to the market strength of the other major philatelic markets, especially British Commonwealth. Market weakness in the Euro block is not good news for stamps.