NEW YORK | By Ana Fuentes | With July 4 final preparations underway, millions of Americans bought their BBQ coal and burgers days ago. Their flags and beer coolers are all set, as well as their Independence-Day-customized backyards. But what about fireworks? Since purchasing them is forbidden in some states, people travel just to get them.
By Ray Kwong | Much as he might like to, Edward Snowden won’t be sightseeing in Paris, Rome or Barcelona any time soon.
BARCELONA | By CaixaBank research team | The projected improvement in revenue would not be enough to offset rising outlays, taking federal debt to an alarming 200% of GDP by 2037.
NEW YORK | By Ana Fuentes | Half a million phone calls, emails and text messages bugged by the American security agency in Germany over a typical month; microphones at the French, Italian and Greek missions and Embassies in Washington… European leaders are outraged. The last Snowden saga revelations might compromise their trade deal with the US.
MADRID | By Carlos Díaz Güell | The Western world’s unemployment has reached brutal dimensions. There are more than 200 million jobless people around the world, representing 5.9 per cent of the labour force on the planet, according to the International Labour Organisation. Perhaps it is time to retire or rethink Keynes and also–why not?–Hayek and seek new formulas that will lead us out of the tunnel.
MADRID | By Luis Arroyo | The BIS is one of the institutions that has publicly put more pressure on the US Federal Reserve to change the course of its monetary policy–with disparaging results.
What is China’s credit real situation? Amid international markets’ woes, our experts put data into perspective. For Antonio Sánchez-Gijón, overall indebtedness of the Chinese economy begins to be seen as excessive and difficult to control. However, Ray Kwong believes liquidity shortages are normal in China, especially when banks are moving assets around to meet capital requirements before the end of a quarter, like around now.
BARCELONA | By CaixaBank research | It is the euro area that is most dependent on exports. That is why the EU has once again started to discuss the urgent need to carry out an ambitious agenda of structural reforms.
NEW YORK | By Ana Fuentes | For the first time since 1970, medical costs in the US went down a seasonally adjusted 0.1% in May, according to the Labor Department, due to more generic drugs reaching the market and the effects of the new federal law. However, consumers shouldn’t get overexcited: they will still spend a big chunk of their wages on health care.
NEW YORK | By Ana Fuentes | The US president visited his key ally in Europe amid tensions caused by the American surveillance program, their use of German military bases for drone strikes and Obama’s disagreement with chancellor Angela Merkel on how to handle the euro crisis.