A working paper by professor José Luis Mechea on possible exit scenarios from the current international economic crisis brings this already known but not fully appreciated picture. Here you are how unit labour costs have evolved since 1999 in a few euro zone countries, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain, in comparison to Germany. Obviously, there must be some link with this other graphic… Yes. Unemployment.
By Julia Pastor, in Madrid | The Spanish stock market fell Thursday by 2%, specially because of the severe punishment suffered by its listed banks. On Friday, analysts at Link Securities commented that “as good news came from Greece, European financial shares were regaining ground but Spanish banks behaved differently… we see that the only reason that explain this fact is the end of the short- selling veto.” After France and…
LONDON | Standish, the Boston-based specialist management firm for investments in fixed income markets, issued a press release regarding the ongoing process in Greece after the country’s parliament passed a new fiscal austerity plan. The current Greek government intends to slash its debt-to-GDP levels to 120% in 10 years. Tom Higgins, global macroeconomic strategist at Standish, believes that the prospects of a Greek default are not yet confirmed, even as euro zone leaders…
By Luis Martí, in Madrid | In an understandable effort to correct serious original defects, the European Union has decided to adopt the fiscal compact promised in the European Council declaration of last November 9. This now is presented to us as none other than the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union, open for member countries to sign after the January 30 summit. For the German Chancellor this…
MADRID | Spain’s ministry of Public Works will request that the route across the Pyrenees be included in the trans-European transport network or TEN-T by the European Commission, reports the daily newspaper Negocio. The head of the department, Ana Pastor, has presented to the media the proposal that will be made in Brussels to help shape this network. Pastor went as far as describe that route as a “key infrastructure for…
Through its subsidiary ScottishPower and National Grid, Iberdrola on Thursday announced the award of a £1bn contract to Siemens and cable manufacturer Prysmian, in order to build the first ever sub-sea electricity link between Scotland and England, Wales. The major grid upgrade will increase the capacity of electricity flowing between England and Scotland by more than 2,000 megawatts (MW), allowing new renewable energy projects to be developed in Scotland that could…
By Juan Pedro Marín Arrese, in Madrid | Markets around the world are flooded with huge loads of fresh cash pumped in by central banks. The balance sheets of central banks have tripled since 2008. And yet monetary supply is lagging behind. Don’t put the blame on banks. Their assets are shrinking as a result of the massive reshuffle in credit exposure undertaken by enterprises and individuals. A grim outlook is…
Three quarters of Europeans see corruption as a major problem at all levels of government, and 8pc of respondents to the latest Eurobarometer survey say that they have been asked or expected to pay a bribe in 2011. Not only corruptions remains a major problem in the European Union but levels are thought to have risen over the last three years. The picture of Europeans’ sentiment regarding abuse is compelling, to…
By Julia Pastor, in Madrid | Every country in Europe is holding up against the neverending financial crisis as Germany does, but the country ‘cannot rest on its oars’ in order to keep its role as Europe’s biggest economy. This is the major conclusion from the latest Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s economic survey of German, published in Berlin on Tuesday. It is true that Germany’s strength and economic…
By Juan Pedro Marín Arrese, in Madrid | For all the efforts to revamp a sluggish economy by bold reforms, Spain is failing to impress investors. They have the feeling that cleaning up the massive stock of repossessed property and bad loans in banking balance sheets will amount to a much higher bill than the one announced by government. Double the €50 billion figure at the very best. No wonder…