According to ECB data, housing prices in the Eurozone have continued to rise in the second half of the year. Growth of 3.0%, picking up from the 2.6% increase in the first quarter and from the 2.2% rise registered at end-2015. In real terms, taking into account the GDP deflator, price levels are above their record average.
Joachim Koops | November 9, 2016, could become an American, transatlantic and global “Day of Fate” of another kind. The election of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States of America is feared by some as leading to a US exit from liberal order.
Nick Malkoutzis via Macropolis | What could Greece have expected from the visit of a US leader in the final days of his presidency, before he is replaced by someone who appears to be the antithesis in personal and policy terms? Not much. What did it get from Barack Obama’s brief stay in Athens? Probably more than it expected.
Santander has reached an agreement with Warburg Pincus and General Atlantic to buy back the 50% of its asset management arm it sold to the private equity firms in 2013.
On Tuesday, the Colombian government ordered an intervention in Electricaribe because there was a risk the company could discontinue its services. Electricaribe is an electricity distributor with 2.5 million clients on Colombia’s Caribbean Coast. Gas Natural owns 85%, while the remaining stake is in state hands.
One of the pending adjustments involved in the process of exiting the crisis is related to damaged assets, mainly property. This phenomenon has prevented the Spanish banks from showing off the huge restructuring efforts they have made with better figures.
Julius Baer Research | Bond yields in the US will likely consolidate thanks to the cap of yields in Europe, as the region is not the next eye of the storm, but the anchor for stability on global bond markets. In the short-and medium term, the ECB’s next move is more important than the Fed’s for bond investors globally.
John Bruton | Donald Trump was much more eloquent than his rival, Hillary Clinton. He came across as comfortable with himself, whereas Clinton appeared anxious at times. He felt he could allow himself to be spontaneous, whereas she did not. Trump has raised so many expectations that it may be impossible for him to live up to them.
From its pre-crisis maximum level, the real value of salaries has fallen 43 billion euros, mainly in the construction sector. On the other hand, in the services sector they have risen by some 5 billion euros. Since the start of the economic recovery, wages have increased below productivity rates. This has been particularly noticeable in the manufacturing sector.
Yiannis Mouzakis via Macropolis| From the beginning of the crisis, Greek debt has often been the elephant in the room. Over the last year it has taken on the form of an unsolvable equation as key decisions makers have taken positions that do not appear to overlap.