MADRID | May 18, 2015 | By Francisco López | The Spanish economy does not shake off the Brussels’ yoke even when is leading the growth of the eurozone. The European Commission is still placing us in the group of the European countries with the most serious economic imbalances.
MADRID | May 12, 2015 | By Fernando G. Urbaneja | The show of confidence belies an economic weakness: half of Spain’s debt is in the hands of foreign investors. After the uncertainties leading up to the summer of 2012, they are once again stocking up their portfolios with Spanish securities.
ATHENS | May 11, 2015 | By Manos Giakoumis via MacroPolis | Recent Greek budget data showed the huge revenue gap of 968 million euros recorded in January narrowed to 389 million by the end of the first quarter (Q1) of 2015. At the same time, primary expenditure, which was just 53 million better than target in January, displayed a strong outperformance of 1.18 billion by the end of March.
The Corner | May 11, 2015 | As Athens enters a critical week –it has to pay about €750 million euros ($837 million) to the IMF tomorrow and needs some sign of progress at today’s Eurogroup in Brussels–, very few voices are still talking about a Grexit scenario. “Greece will meet its commitment,” analysts at Bankinter stress. “In 70 years of the IMF’s History no developed country has defaulted.”
The 2015 UK General Election could see the end of the Conservative-Labour dominance in Westminster.
BANGKOK | May 3, 2015 | By Benjamin Cole via Marcus Nunes‘ Historinhas | I have complained before in this space about the macroeconomic defeatism seen among both left- and right-wing economists. We are told that due to demographics and lower productivity, future economic growth must be muted. Not so.
The European Union is planning to act against human traffickers in the Mediterranean. But the plight of refugees can only be relieved when the EU’s foreign policy engagement is strengthened.
The Corner | April 29, 2015 | Is the eurozone’s private sector finally turning a corner? For the first time in three years, lending to households and firms rose in March (0.1% y-o-y), European Central Bank data showed on Wednesday, partly thanks to the QE iniciative.
ATHENS | April 28, 2015 | By Nick Malkoutzis via MacroPolis | Such has been the impasse between Greece and its lenders over the last three months (add a few more on if you want to look beyond just this government’s shortcomings) that markets reacted with some joy to the news on Monday that one inexperienced economics professor is replacing another as the central figure in Athens’s negotiations with creditors.
MADRID | April 28, 2015 | By Carlos Díaz Güell | The Spanish economy is certainly turning the corner as evidenced by its growth rate, possibly exceeding 3% this year, and employment data, although both indicators are cooled down by analysts who believe growth in the medium and long term may be hampered by too many mortgages.