MADRID | By Julia Pastor | Spain, according to Schaüble, is a good example of homework done. Germany’s Economy Minister praised labor costs reduction, export rate increase and all the effort the Spaniards have done in reorganizing their financial sector, even after the Troika’s review.
BARCELONA | By CaixaBank Research | Owning a residence is the most usual way for households to accumulate wealth. Consequently, in those countries where a higher proportion of households own their own home, net wealth is higher.
VALENCIA | By Luis A. Torralba at Valencia Plaza | Hedge Fund GLG Partners earned 1,7 million euros on Thursday with Bankia stocks while small investors are about to lose everything. Spanish regulator CNMV is investigating volumes.
By Ray Kwong | Broad strokes, when you’re talking about the 21st century possibly becoming the Asian Century, one thing becomes crystal clear: it’s not preordained and it’s not just all about China. With its varied cultures and emphasis on education, self-reliance and upward mobility, Asia may overtake the West as the world’s economic engine.
It seems like the million-dollar question: what if the ECB stopped sitting on its hands, change its monetary policy and pump some cash into the suffering euro peripheral countries? George Mason University Economics professor Tyler Cowen wonders about the consequences in his blog Marginal Revolution.
BARCELONA | By CaixaBank Research | Corporate debt has fallen from the peak of 1,495 billion euros recorded in 2010 (144.4% of GDP) to 1,372 billion in the fourth quarter of 2012 (131.7% of GDP).
MADRID | The new antifraud law in Spain is bringing surprises on the table: more than 130,000 tax payers have declared assets held in foreign countries with an estimated total value of 87.7 billion euros, more than the double of what Spanish Treasury estimated. The penalty is 150% of the tax due.
LONDON | By Dr Simon Usherwood | Cameron needs to be able to show that a British agenda of market-based integration has traction in the EU and that he is ‘winning the argument’. He’s being ‘tough’ policy helps little.
BARCELONA | CaixaBank Research | The action taken by the ECB has prevented a disaster and is designed to ensure a gentle, gradual normalization. Several signs support this second interpretation. For example, the early repayment of LTRO loans.
Sure, the eurodrama is a fact. But there is a growing interest about investing in the peripheral Europe. Morgan Stanley has conducted a survey among investment managers and 38% of them expect the CDS of the Spanish sovereign bond to be between 150-200bp over the next 12 months.