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The Corner
The Corner has a team of on-the-ground reporters in capital cities ranging from New York to Beijing. Their stories are edited by the teams at the Spanish magazine Consejeros (for members of companies’ boards of directors) and at the stock market news site Consenso Del Mercado (market consensus). They have worked in economics and communication for over 25 years.
Chinese renminbi

Markets 28th May 2015

China: caught in the trap of cautious monetary reforms

Iris Mir | China continues to struggle to avoid being swallowed by the challenges that stifle its stagnant economy while developing a new monetary policy. The IMF applauded the steps taken so far and no longer considers the RMB an undervalued currency. However China remains too cautious in its monetary reforms. Risking the country’s ambitions of further internationalize the RMB and  the joining of IMF’s cherished Special Drawing Rights Basket.

The UK Queen's speech

In Europe 28th May 2015

UK Queen’s Speech launches Conservative push to legislate on EU, taxes

LONDON | May 28, 2015 | By Fabrice Montagne (Barclays) | The measures announced on Wednesday are not new but were already extensively discussed in the press or during the campaign and were mostly included in the Conservative manifesto. By making a selection and a ranking of all the possible bills, the Queen’s Speech nonetheless provides necessary clarification on the government’s priorities over the next 12 months.

china central bank

Markets 27th May 2015

China: Be prepared to pass the test of the Fed’s next rates hike

BEIJING | May 27, 2015 | By Caixin Editorial Team | Emerging economies have been bracing themselves for a rise in U.S. interest rates. Last week, the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting in April sparked another round of speculation about when the rate hike might begin. Most now expect a start date in December, rather than September.

Spain Generic Govt 10Y Yield

Spanish economy 26th May 2015

Average cost of Spanish debt down to 1.46% in 2014

The Corner | May 26, 2015 | The improvement of financial markets in 2014 allowed the issuance average cost of the Spanish public Treasury to go down to 1.46%, about 100 basis points below 2013 levels. Spanish premium risk fell by 114 basis points to reach an average of 120 points in December, according to the Bank of Spain. (Chart above: Spain Generic Govt 10Y Yield; Source: Bloomberg)

 

china local bonds

Markets 24th May 2015

Bonds to tackle Chinese local debt

BEIJING | May 24, 2015 | By Zhang Yuzhe, Huo Kan and Xing Yun via Caixin | A bond program that takes aim at China’s local government debt problem could raise 1 trillion yuan, yet cut creditor yields.

kostas karamanlis

In Europe 23rd May 2015

Kostas Karamanlis as comeback kid?

ATHENS | May 23, 2015 | By Nick Malkoutzis via MacroPolis | A number of eyebrows were raised last week when an opinion poll suggested that former Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis, who oversaw Greece’s fiscal derailment between 2004 and 2009, is the most popular candidate to take over from Antonis Samaras as New Democracy leader. 

Productivity

World economy 22nd May 2015

Persistently problematic productivity

May 22, 2015 | UBS | Why has real GDP growth been surprisingly weak compared to job gains? Why do some economists expect only slowly-trending GDP expansion in the coming years? Why has the unemployment rate fallen more often than expected?