Two thirds of Americans feel suspicious or skeptical about their country’s economic situation. According to a Gallup poll, only 23 percent said they were satisfied with the way things are going in the United States, down from a 28 percent satisfaction rate last month. Three months before the presidential elections, figures and sondages are multiplying. We’ll certainly see numbers shift, popularity indexes soar and fall before the D-day, and both…
Interested in the world’s economy? There’s somebody you should meet. He doesn’t have an outstanding experience in the private sector but is determined to drastically cut U.S. government spending, boost market flexibility and avoid the “clouds” that are coming from Europe. If Republicans make it to the White House in november, Congressman Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney’s pick for vice president, will have a bigger say than the president. If not,…
By Luis Arroyo, in Madrid | In this excellent analysis, Tim Duy forecasts a moderate but continued 2 percent GDP growth rate for the US unless global risks drag it down. But the debate over there seems to turn around what else could have been done to fill the gap the breaks open in 2008, as it clearly appears in the chart, between actual and potential real GDP. The dilemma,…
If you take a map of the US, you’ll see that almost two thirds are under severe drought warning this summer. Thirty-three states are colored red, longing for rain. Some farmers in Missouri haven’t seen clouds in the sky for more than three months. Ranchers fear that soon they might have to sell their cattle. Crop producers are desperate since many do not have insurance. Yet the situation is not…
By CaixaBank research team, in Barcelona | The rise of prices below the government’s target of 4% has created further room for expansionary policies. Hence the government cut the official interest rate by 25 basis points, down to 6.31%, at the beginning of June, and reduced the cash reserve ratio by 50 basis points in mid-May. For the remainder of the year, we predict further reductions in the cash reserve…
After months focused on the eurodrama, markets are starting to care more about the so-called fiscal cliff, a popular shorthand term used to describe the situation that Washington will face at the end of this year. Bush tax cuts are set to expire unless Republicans and Democrats agree on how to extend them and who would have to pay. This combined with $110 billion in defense and domestic spending cuts…
It’s definitely not the best time for British banks. The last one under the spotlight is Standard and Chartered, until now regarded as a darling of the financial sector. The emerging markets-focused lender which managed to escape the effects of Europe’s debt crisis may now lose its operating licence in New York: US regulators alleged it hid $250 billion in transactions with Iran over nearly a decade. According to the…
BEIJING | The BBC recently released an article on how Chinese students with foreign qualifications are having a harsh time looking for a job. Not so long ago, the article goes, they used to have a promising professional future in China ahead of them. They had an experience, language skills and qualifications other potential employees educated in local universities did not. Conversely, nowadays their academic profile seem not to fit…
After the Draghi’s drag, deciding not to take any immediate action to stop the euro bleeding, markets are digesting a very awaited yet not so bright U.S. job report. It was the best data in five months -July was the best hiring month since February- but still not sufficient to reassure. America added 163,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in July, the Labor Department said (compared to a revised 64,000 jobs in…
By Luis Arroyo, in Madrid | With a little help from the Federal Reserve and the current government, the number of unsold housing in the US is beginning to reach some normalcy. Oversupply, one of the biggest barriers to restore a healthy functioning sector, has stopped. House volume per family now sits at 1992 levels. In Spain, unfortunately, we haven’t even started. The only sure thing about these matters in…