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madrid museo del prado 003

Spanish economy 26th July 2021

Madrid Finally Has A Site Inscribed As World Heritage: The ‘Landscape Of Light’

The ‘Landscape of Light’ in Madrid, which includes, the Paseo del Prado and the Retiro will be inscribed in 2021 as World Heritage by Unesco. The decision has been communicated in the 44th session of the World Heritage Committee of Unesco from China. It is the first time an urban green space had been nominated. With yesterday’s ‘yes’ the city manages to settle a historical debt because it is currently the only capital of Western Europe without any property inscribed as World Heritage.

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European banks

European economy 25th July 2021

Ban On Bank Dividends: A Strange Remedy With Severe Side Effects

Scander Bentchikou (Lazard Frères Gestion) | The restrictions on bank dividends, which have been in force since March 2020, ended on Friday. For banks and their shareholders, this is a relief. The measure, supposed to protect banks from the crisis, has done more harm than good. Technically, the banking sector’s dividends made a big comeback in spring 2021. However, the amounts paid remained well below their 2019 levels, given the still numerous restrictions. The return to normal will have to wait for the results of the banking stress tests, published on 31 July by the European Banking Authority.

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merchbank

new world order

World economy 24th July 2021

Could Global Growth This Year Be The Fastest This Century?

Schroders | The world economy is set for its fastest year of growth in the 21st century this year, according to our latest forecasts. We now think global GDP is set to expand by 5.9% in 2021, having upgraded our previous forecast of 5.3%. As lockdowns ease, the service sector – which includes businesses such as restaurants and hotels – is driving the recovery in economic growth.

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interviews

ramiro mato

“A Lot Of Things Are Not Defined. We Don’t Know What Is Green, What Is Brown…”

Fernando Rodríguez | “Nor do we know what rules the EBA is going to impose on these issues, or how some of the measures the ECB may take will affect capital ratios. So regulation is making it difficult for us to grow, because of all the limitations and all the capital requirements being imposed on us,” explains Ramiro Mato, chairman of the responsible banking, sustainability and corporate governance committee at Santander Bank: “For example, in Poland 70% of energy still comes from coal, and we cannot stop financing our customers all at once.”

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Nobuhiro Kiyotaki

“Modern Monetary Theory Has A Weakness: Nominal Government Bond Rates Are Not Always Low”

Pablo Pardo (Washington) | Nobuhiro Kiyotaki, Princeton professor and BBVA Frontiers of Knowledge Award winner, says: “As public debt grows, rates tend to rise, until they are close to those of private debt, which are higher than the rate of GDP growth. The spreads on public and private debt are not immutable over time and, paradoxically, some people seem to think that this is the case, that the coupon on…

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