In the World

EU Iceland

Iceland-EU talks: How to say “no” without quite saying it

LONDON | By Sigrún Davíðsdóttir (Icelandic State Broadcaster Rúv correspondent)| How to break up a relationship? Do you say you need a break, yet making it clear it’s finite – or do you make a clean cut and say it as it is, that you really don’t want to stay in this relationship? The Icelandic government is having a major difficulty in breaking up with the European Union although the relationship was only that of negotiating a further relationship. Saying “no, it’s over” seems difficult – and that is exactly what foreigners often say about Icelanders: they find it difficult to commit themselves to final decisions.



emergingmarkets

Monetary policy: the dam might leak

MADRID | By J.P. Marín Arrese | Christine Lagarde’s stern warning on potential problems ahead for emerging countries has been delivered in rather a blunt way: “even with the best of efforts the dam might leak”. At the annual Fed gathering in Wyoming she claimed “further lines of defence” were needed to address a financial crisis. The hike in interest rates following the prospect of a progressive tapering in asset purchases by the US, has induced a sharp reversal in fund flows between developed and emerging markets.







Global companies in India

Global companies in India: what makes them salivate?

BANGALORE | By Srikanth Vasuraj | As U.S. president Barack Obama recently stated on Twitter, “India is not simply emerging. It has emerged”. Whilst China is considered the world’s largest market because of its population, India is still a preferred destination because of the size of its consumer market and ease of doing business.


Mexico

Mexico must cut oil dependency

BARCELONA | By CaixaBank research team | In order to be effective, pending reforms in Mexico should make public revenue less dependent on oil, such as by eliminating income tax deductions.