Articles by Ana Fuentes

About the Author

Ana Fuentes
Columnist for El País and a contributor to SER (Sociedad Española de Radiodifusión), was the first editor-in-chief of The Corner. Currently based in Madrid, she has been a correspondent in New York, Beijing and Paris for several international media outlets such as Prisa Radio, Radio Netherlands or CNN en español. Ana holds a degree in Journalism from the Complutense University in Madrid and the Sorbonne University in Paris, and a Master's in Journalism from Spanish newspaper El País.
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China urges Europe to work on its debt

China is willing to help, but everyone has limits. Premier Wen Jiabao told visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a state visit in Beijing on Thursday that Beijing plans to continue buying European sovereign debt, the strongest sign of support for its biggest trading partner in months, although it urged further measures to be taken. “The European debt crisis has continued to worsen, giving rise to serious concerns in the…


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Reading the tea leaves of Apple-Samsung’s battle

Apple-Samsung war is far from over. Steve Job’s company got what it wanted from the jury -more than $1 billion- but it’s still fighting to get a ban on eight models of the South Korean company’s smartphones, including its Galaxy S devices. This is how the two giants, which once played as friendly competitors, have reacted: Apple: “The mountain of evidence presented during the trail showed that Samsung’s copying went…


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“Europeans are not productive enough to defend their living standards”

Famous for his provocative views on international economics and China’s rise, Andy Xie is an independent economist who predicted the Asian bubble in 1997. Based in Shanghai, he is a former Morgan Stanley star chief Asia-Pacific analyst. We interviewed him for our summer interviews on China’s challenges, the eurodrama and his forecast for the future. For Mr. Xie, Wall Street bankers are viewed in China as “a bunch of corrupt…


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Twitter’s underground economy: are you being followed?

Students and politicians know it: a remarkable number of followers make a Twitter profile shine, look cooler or more credible. And not all of them need to be real. They can be purchased with a simple click: on average, 1,000 followers cost a mere $18. At some webs like BuyTwitterFollowers it costs $77 to buy 5,000 Twitter follower bots. Research Scientist at Barracuda Labs Jason Ding made an interesting study…


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“Financial development can become a drag on growth”

NOTE: The following article is based on a paper by Economic Adviser at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Stephen G. Cecchetti and his colleague Enisse Kharroubi. The full publication is available at BIS website. You can also download it here. One of the principal conclusions of modern economics is that finance is good for growth. But recent experience has led many people to question whether this conclusion is definitive….


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In Tough Economic Times, Is Higher Education Still Worth The Price?

Remember when a higher education used to be a guarantee of success in the market? With the crisis, the picture has turned 180 degrees: too many graduates in Europe and the U.S are waiting tables, going back to their parents and coping with frustration. New grads are also facing competition from older, laid-off job seekers. In the case of American youngsters, they also need to repay their loans (see our…


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Show me the money: it’s voting time!

Mark Twain said once that The White House was the “best Congress money can buy.” In this battered economy, while millions of Americans are tightnening their belts, this presidential election is expected to be the priciest in U.S. history. Make a guess: how much do you think it will cost? The predictions by the Center of Response Politics (CRS), a nonpartisan research group tracking money in politics, are of almost…


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“Contraction and austerity combined are an extremely dangerous mix for Spain”

Morning! Today we bring you the last part of our summer series interview with Professor of Economics at Columbia University Martin Uribe. He believes that the Eurozone needs structural changes to tackle the crisis, especially in fiscal matters. The lesson we should learn from this crisis is to avoid high capital inflows into a country as happened to Spain from 2000 to 2008. – Several Nobel laureates have decried budget…


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“Without a fiscal authority, Europe will always be a poorly designed system”

Professor of Economics at Columbia University Martin Uribe strongly believes that the Eurozone needs structural changes to tackle the crisis, especially in fiscal matters. For this expert in macroeconomic analysis, who has worked for many universities and institutions including the European Central Bank, the lack of tax policy at a European level is condemning the least developed countries to beg for aid. Uribe talked to The Corner summer interviews’ series from…


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America’s economic unhappiness

Two thirds of Americans feel suspicious or skeptical about their country’s economic situation. According to a Gallup poll, only 23 percent said they were satisfied with the way things are going in the United States, down from a 28 percent satisfaction rate last month. Three months before the presidential elections, figures and sondages are multiplying. We’ll certainly see numbers shift, popularity indexes soar and fall before the D-day, and both…