Iris Mir | China aims to recover the ancient Silk Road to create an unprecedented trade link between Asia and Europe. Least developed Chinese provinces would also benefit largely from the ‘one belt, one road’ project as Beijing will need to invest greatly in infrastructure and high-speed railways. Local governments see the project as a golden opportunity to revive stagnating growth.
MADRID | The Corner | F1 pilot Fernando Alonso and Santander bank deceased chairman Emilio Botín, both great ambassadors of the Spain brand, are among the 4,000 Spaniards helped by HSBC to evade taxes. As online newspaper El Confidencial revealed, an estimated €1.8 billion ($2.8 billion) was concealed by Spanish citizens in Swiss bank accounts between 2006 and 2007.
MADRID | By Ana Lopez Varela | Cutbacks and balance sheet losses at the British oil giant are indicative of a more widespread malaise afflicting the oil industry. While there has been a correction in profit forecasts, firms are likely to adjust their business model accordingly.
MADRID | By Ana Fuentes | She believes that central banks should act coordinately, since competition between them can cause currency distortions. British economist and former banker Frances Coppola has been one of the main critics of the European Central Bank’s QE “because it supports asset prices, but that is all it does.” She spoke to The Corner about shadow banking and how financials should be accepting and managing risk on both sides of the Atlantic.
TOKYO | By Nobumasa Akiyama Via Caixin | Deeds not words will determine whether Shinzo Abe will be a success in 2015, a year full of challenges.
How will the recent plunge in oil prices affect Asian countries?
Guest post by Benjamin Cole via Historinhas | What to make of the recent dust-up around Rogoff World, in which the U.S. would pursue a cashless, deflationary federal police state characterized by negative interest rates? Harvard don Ken Rogoff has suggested this is the best macroeconomic option going forward. My take-away? The economics profession is deep into dementia.
WASHINGTON | By Pablo Pardo | Why do they call Economics the Dismal Science? In theory, because it is about using limited resources to satisfy unlimited needs. In practice because, no matter what, everything is always bad in Economics. Case in point: cheap oil.
SAO PAULO | By Marcus Nunes via Historinhas | On December 2 2014, Stanley Fisher gave an interview (video) to Jon Hilsenrath of the WSJ. It was notable because Fischer had mostly been quiet, except for a couple of Lectures (not speeches) – here, here – given in international forums. Six or seven weeks later, is that interview still pertinent? At that point oil prices stood at close to USD 70 and now they stand below 50. Mostly as a reflection of low global AD (here).The global scenario is changing quickly, and not for the better. So maybe Fischer is not so sure anymore. [Image:WSJ]
SAO PAULO | By Marcus Nunes via Historinhas | In an interview he dwells on financial fragility and the Great Recession was an “inconvenience”: “Of course, we had to cope with a number of additional challenges on top of the grave and immediate threat of the collapse of the system. We had also to cope with the Great Recession, but very fortunately not the Great Depression that we would have had had we not acted swiftly and boldly at the start of the crisis. Even so, the Great Recession added to the difficulty.”