By Guilherme Waldemar d’Oliveira Martins, owner of the Portuguese Audit Firm Oliveira, Reis & Associados | In downturn times like we have nowadays, the Euro Zone will face big problems if budgets don’t operate as counter-cyclical instruments.
WASHINGTON | “Investors would be well advised to see the outcome of Cyprus both as a reflection of how future stresses will be handled, and a reminder that efforts to shift the liabilities associated with legacy bad bank assets.”
MADRID | The problem is that some eurocrats seem unable to realise the consequences of their irresponsible talk when they land jobs on the top of the European pyramid.
BARCELONA | By CaixaBank analysts | It is expected that, in some cases such as Spain or France, the European Commission will ease the extent of fiscal consolidation required over the coming years.
BARCELONA | CaixaBank researchers | The euro area’s drop in GDP was slightly more than expected. The European Commission expects a 0.3% drop in GDP in 2013, but the latest economic figures point to a slow recovery.
By CaixaBank analysts | The unemployment rate remains stable in December at 11.7%. Germany’s good performance slows down job losses in the euro area.
BARCELONA | By CaixaBank analysts | Both for the population as a whole and in particular for the child population, basic needs are relatively well covered in Spain.
LONDON | While the average German bank deposits have returned some $130 per $1,000 since 2008, the Cypriot figure almost doubles it. Yield information like this throws a very different light over what is happening this week in Cyprus.
MADRID | Was it necessary to impose such a hard medicine for a bail-out amounting to roughly €10 billion? The only plausible answer lies in the forthcoming German general elections bound to banish all common sense for future months.
NEW YORK | If the same deal had taken place on this side of the Atlantic during the TARP (bank rescue program), some US media stated on Monday, we would have seen the Armageddon.