Scott Morris via Caixin | Overshadowed by China’s role as the world’s creditor is the uncomfortable reality that it also continues to be one of the largest recipients of multilateral assistance through major development agencies like the World Bank and Asian Development Bank. This juxtaposition of China as lender and borrower has marked a long simmering tension with the West.
Benjamin Cole | The last filmy slips of fabric have been stripped away, and macroeconomists must now view the once-romanced US Congress in flagrante delicto with a real paramour: Mr. Big Bucks Deficits. From here, a premise of Federal Reserve monetary policy must be that it takes place alongside $1 trillion annual deficits.
Gestamp said on Tuesday it has bought a factory in Brazil which currently supplies bodywork components for the Japanese car manufacturer Toyota. The Spanish multinational flagged that this operation fits in with its goal of increasing its Japanese clients, who currently manufacture almost a third of global vehicles.
A report from the European Commission published on Monday said that Spanish households’ gross available income was still below 2008 levels up to the first half of last year, in comparison with other EU countries’.
Last October the Chinese investment fund Orient Hontai agreed to buy a majority stake in Spanish sports rights group Mediapro for $1 billion in order to change the Asian country into a global soccer powerhouse. Today the deal has been materialised and Orient Hontai officially become new owner of the Spanish soccer championship usually known as la Liga, Europe’s third-richest league.
In 2020, rail passenger traffic will be opened up to the competition in Spain. Looking ahead to this situation, Renfe will launch a new low-cost, intelligent AVE high-speed train. This will be called EVA and it will have all the new technologies, while tickets will be between 20% and 25% cheaper.
After another fall on Friday, the stock markets have followed the US and Asia’s bull trail. The Ibex 35 recovered part of last week’s losses at the opening. In general, analysts are agreed that this fall in the markets is a healthy correction and not the start of another bear market.
The consortium formed by ACS (with 24%), SNC Lavalin, Aecon, Pomerleau and EBC, has been chosen to design and build an automatic train (an underground train without a driver) for the metropolitan area in Montreal, Canada. The contract is worth 825 million euros.
After nearly a decade of economic and political turmoil, Europe is still struggling to regain stability. The primary question about Europe’s future remains unanswered: Will the eurozone ever be able to flourish without external support?
Nick Malkoutzis via Macropolis | Tens of thousands of people protested in Athens on Sunday in what was the largest rally the Greek capital has seen for some time. They were there to send a message regarding the meaning of a Greek word: Macedonia.