A combination of proper pension reforms, better allocation of state and private-sector assets, and greater utilization of new technologies can help China to defuse the demographic bomb and mitigate the ageing shock for its economy and society. Analysts at AXA IM briefly summarises the pillars of China’s pension system.
Germany is on track for a technical recession, like Italy. Growth should return in 2019, but slower EM means slower Germany.The main calls for 2019 suggested by the analysts of BoAML are the euro area inflation at 1.0% on average, tricky for the ECB but good for purchasing power. These following are their arguments:
via The Conversation | Parts of the federal government have been closed since midnight on Dec. 22, making it the second-longest shutdown on record. It’s also the third since President Donald Trump took office. The immediate and most visible impact of a shutdown is in the government’s day-to-day operations.
Sheng Songcheng and Shen Xinfeng via Caixin | Speculation has flared up that the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) is considering buying stocks. But there are no valid reasons for the central bank to buy shares directly or through exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that track indexes or baskets of stocks.
The Spanish Government will not prolong the useful life of any of the nuclear plants in Spain beyond 40 years, so that it will prioritise the closure of plants of this period. To incentivise the closure of these plants, it has proposed giving the owners more fiscal advantages when obtaining permits for developing renewable energy.
The British/Spanish company carried 112.9 million passengers last year, an increase of +7.7% over 2017, and with a load factor of 88.3%, an increase of +0.7%. Iberia achieved a year on year increase in traffic of 11.7%. As well as Iberia (including Iberia express), two other airlines of the group, Aer Lingus and Vueling, contributed to this growth with a 9.8% increase in traffic, while British Airway’s traffic increased 3.3%.
Tecnicas Reunidas has announced it has secured the tenders for three contracts at the close of 2018 for around 1 billion dollars (870 million euros). The new tenders are the most positive aspect in recent months. In the middle of November a new contract was also announced for 1.27 billion euros.
The French say: “The absent are always in the wrong.” The saying is quite correct, at least as far as the unification process in Europe is concerned. Greece has been a member of the European Union for almost four decades but, sadly, the parochialism of the Greek political elite (bar a few exceptions) has been a main feature of the country’s participation in the project.
Electricity futures predict that high energy prices will continue into 2019, after a 2018 which closed as the second year with the highest average price in the electricity market since 1998, and foresee a rise in the “pool” for this year of around 8% compared to last year.
It seems natural to answer yes, but I have never completely believed it, despite the statistical forecasts which say it will. China is a giant economy with feet of mud. Looking at the evolution of the US towards its privileged position, China seems nothing like it.