WASHINGTON | Our brains do not seem to have been made for a modern-day economy. They are much better suited for deciding among a limited —a very limited— set of options. This could make sense when we were living in caves —for several tens of thousands years, let’s not forget—, and the main selection we had to make was to pick a partner to mate with or a mammoth to take…
By Fernando Barciela, in Madrid | Unipapel’s managing director Millán Álvarez-Miranda warns the European economy is deteriorating as a whole, from Dublin to Paris and Athens, not just in the periphery of the euro area. Are you concerned about the markets? Of course. You don’t want your company to be undervalued on the markets. In our case, we must also bear in mind that half of the shareholders are present at the council. The fact that the stock price…
MADRID | The newspaper El País published an interview in its Sunday edition with Francisco González, president of BBVA and “one of the bankers that travels the most around the world. Some even criticise this obsessive international concern, but it provides him with the ability to know how Spain is perceived abroad.” What are the lessons learned after four years of crisis? This has been a very severe crisis due to a…
NEW YORK | What makes an interesting CEO, a really charismatic one? And what kills all the charm? A survey by the 10 Company and Gotham Research Group conducted last December among business bloggers pointed out the worst sentences a manager could possible pronounce. Here is an excerpt of the article by Celeste Altus at Mediabistro. “Win-win situation”: I think this one hit its effectiveness peak in the 1980s. Bloggers point…
LONDON | Spanish president Mariano Rajoy stepped on to Downing Street but talked instead to the City of London. It will not be the last time that this happens. The shift in the UK’s relationship with most European Union country members should be a troubling sign of the declining power Whitehall and the Houses of Parliament retain amid one of the most crude economic downturns seen in some decades. Then…
By Fernando Gonzalez Urbaneja, in Madrid | Three decrees for the reform, restructuring and rescue of the Spanish financial system have passed and some voices at the Bank of Spain point out there might yet be a fourth one, if needed. Three plans for a sector which boasted of being the best in the world, and neither of all three have exactly been effective in restoring the credit market. The Socialists…
By Jacobo de Regoyos, in Brussels | José Sartorius Álvarez de Bohorques devotes most of his time to his role as a member of the European Economic and Social Committee. He was appointed by the Spanish Confederation of Employers’ Organizations CEOE and the Banking Association AEB. Are the Spanish entrepreneurs against the Tobin tax? Well, I have not met with all Spanish entrepreneurs, but the AEB and the CEOE are contrary to the Tobin…
By Jaime Malet | During the meetings that took place at the World Economic Forum summit, headed by the economic leaders of various countries, the main conclusion I reached was that the recipes expounded to attain competitiveness in the short term differed from one country to another, but that in the long term there were formulas which were shared by many. This caused me to reflect on the matter and try…
By Fernando Barciela, in Madrid | A small €24 million-turnover metal stamping company has become a €1.5 billion-turnover international corporation in 15 years. Its chairman Anton Pradera says that changing a company’s model isn’t difficult. Indeed. CIE Automotive sells 90% of its production outside Spain. Does this protect you from our domestic crisis? [Our emphasis.] That’s right. We are really happy now that we started our internationalisation at the very beginning of…
