Are Europeans Closing their Borders?
PARIS | By Jean Pisani-Ferry via Caixin | Europe needs migration much more than at any time in recent decades, but has never given a clear answer to how it feels about the issue.
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The Irony of Corruption Convicts in Ukraine
MADRID | By Álex García.
Spain’s new jobs to have a €100 flat rate on social contributions
MADRID | By Francisco López | PM Mariano Rajoy’ leading measures to push up Spanish economy in 2014 include a €100 flat rate for social security contributions of new jobs as well as a tax cut that can benefit 12 million of workers. While the first initiative intends to foster permanent contracts more than alleviate companies’ tax charges, the second is not very clear since we don’t really know how many employees will benefit from it. Also, the next fiscal reform could change tax structure completely.
Mexico: When The Car Industry Is An All-In
MEXICO CITY | By David Brunat | It’s crystal clear: the automotive industry is going to drive the Mexican economy soon, says the country’s Automotive Industry Association AMIA, who predicts that in 5 years they will be producing 4 million units -and replace Japan as the second-largest exporter of cars to the United States.
Why are we afraid of lobbies?
MADRID | By Laura Alcaide (Guest post) | Spaniards, and Europeans in general, are reluctant to let lobbies participate in the political arena. Although it is true that these powerful groups can move the threads behind the scenes, as it happens with many industries in Washington, they can also make consumers’ voices heard and help citizens to fight nepotism and corruption.
Ukraine vs. Argentina, which country is more likely to default?
FAIRFAX | By Tyler Cowen via Marginal Revolution | It is hard to look at pictures of Kiev and think “that looks like a safe sovereign credit,” but even with the recent run-up Ukraine still has a market-implied default hazard at only about 60% of the level of Argentina.
What lies at the heart of differences over Greek banks’ capital needs?
ATHENS | By MacroPolis | Following a meeting last week between Bank of Greece (BoG) senior officials with the top management of the four Greek systemic banks (Alpha, Eurobank, National and Piraeus), where the central bank reportedly informed lenders that their capital needs amount to around 5 billion euros, a Financial Times report published on Monday puts things in a completely different perspective.
Spain leads app market in EU- but users want them for free
MADRID | By Jaime Santisteban | 22 million Spaniards are active apps users and 4 million apps for smartphones, tablets and TV are downloaded every day. No matter the economic crisis, “in this harsh work environment, app development still has an increasingly strong potential,” Microsoft analysts point out. As the industry leaders gather in Barcelona for the Mobile World Congress starting on Monday – they’ll make the deals that we’ll hear about for the rest of the year, by the way- brands are complaining about how hard it is to monetize apps in a country too used to download them without paying a cent.
To Fight Corruption, Understand its Dynamics
As there is no perfect model or even a template for democracy, one cannot avoid the realities that underlie the role of corruption in any country — realities which must be dealt with for transparency to become a national value. “Affecting all EU Member States, corruption costs the European economy around €120 billion per year. Corruption undermines citizens’ confidence in democratic institutions and the rule of law; it hurts the European economy and deprives States from much-needed tax revenue”, Cecilia Malmstrom, EU commissioner for Home Affairs, has recently stated.
Can the World Avoid Another Crisis of Emerging Markets?
BEIJING | By Andy Xie | The fact that emerging market economies have not borrowed in foreign currencies means there’s a way out, and a soft landing will be helped if China keeps its currency stable.