The Federal Reserve is more or less protected from the demands of political parties. But what about the influence from ‘special interest groups’ such as the banking industry on Fed policymaking? “There is hardly be any doubt that the Fed caters, first and foremost, to the needs of commercial and investment banks, ” says a report from Degussa.
William Chislett | By the time General Franco died in 1975 Spain had undergone profound economic and social change, which laid the foundations for an even greater transformation over the next 40 years, but it was a long haul. The new constitution, drawn up by all the main political parties and approved in a referendum on 6 December 1978 by 88% of voters on a turnout of 67%, sealed the transition to democracy.
Xavier Colás (Moscow) | Very affected by US sanctions, Russia has embarked on a de-dollarization plan up to 2024 and discounts paying EU members in euros. But the volatility of the rouble disrupts the road map.
The president elect of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, confirmed the cancellation of the construction works for the airport of Mexico. This is the result of the binding referendum and means the end of a project with a budget of €10 bn, of which 20% has been completed. The president’s alternative proposal is to enlarge the the military airport Santa Lucia (terminal for international flights) and modernise the old airport of Benito Juárez in the centre of Mexico City (for domestic traffic).
On next December 6, the Spanish Constitution and therefore Spain’s democracy turns 40 years old after another 40 years of dictatorship. Until that day, The Corner is going to publish a series of articles written by William Chislett, associate analyst at the Elcano Royal Institute about, precisely, how much and and how deep the country has changed in these last 4 decades. Today’s story is just the beginning.
Telefonica posted a profit of €2,721 M in the first nine months of the year, which represents an improvement of 11.6% compared to the same period a year ago.Net debt reduced for the sixth consecutive quarter and stood at €42,636m at the end of September. This fall represents a reduction of nearly 10% year-on-year.
Banco Santander increased attributable profit during the first nine months of 2018 by 13% to €5,742 million (+28% in constant euros), as strong growth in revenues in several markets, combined with improvements in credit quality, more than offset the impact of exchange rate depreciation against the euro in certain currencies, including the Argentine peso. Profit before tax for the period was €11,230 million–up 10 % (+23% in constant euros).
Q3 earnings season has been strong virtually all over the place, well above expectations, and consensus forecasts move up. According to analysts at Julius Baer, “equity weakness continues to be driven by performance protection and money flow rather than fundamental factors.”
Iberdrola began operations yesterday in the maritime wind farm Wikinger in the waters of the Baltic in Germany, which supposes the first maritime wind power project built by the group on its own, with an investment rising to 1.4 billion euros. With an output of 350MW, this wind farm represents the first phase in a larger wind power complex, of 836 MW and with a joint investment of 2.5 billion euros.
The market reaction to Angela Merkel’s decision has not been bad. The euro depreciated to 1.1373 against the dollar, but sovereign debt suffered more because of the greater risk appetite, and the returns on 10 years German bonds rose to +2.5 bp. However, given that Merkel has held the role of a stabilising figure in Europe, some analysts expect that the long term markets could be concerned by the vacuum she could create with her departure.