By CaixaBank research team, in Barcelona | Of the events occurring recently on the world economic scene, three have significantly affected the current fate of Brazil's economy. On the one hand, the confirmation of China's economic slowdown in the first quarter; on the other, the progress made in correcting commodities markets and, lastly, more intense tensions in the euro area's debt markets are causing a marked upswing in global aversion…
BEIJING | The option that Chinese economy is in a more severe slowdown than the one officially acknowledged has always been in the international community's subconscious. Economists and experts have been aware of a well known, but not so evident, truth where the usually optimistic official data might not be completely reliable. The debate is open, making it difficult to identify the actual reach of the economic consequences born out…
By Tania Suárez, in Madrid | Intermoney chief economist José Carlos Díez considers that a monetary union with stability and credibility will not be possible unless there is a surrender of sovereignty. He adds that it is not only Germany the one that must be flexible in its position, but all member countries alike. Can be the Thursday-to-Friday summit considered as “the definitive” or will it result into a new…
NEW YORK | Last week 15 major banks, including the nation’s three largest institutions, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup, which together have more than $6.4 trillion in assets, suffered credit ratings cuts by Moody’s. No matter their efforts to strengthen their operations since they received a warning in February, their core businesses still present structural weaknesses, the ratings agency said. Bank of America, which owns Merrill Lynch, and Citigroup,…
NEW YORK | Without Latinos the access to the White House in November is not guaranteed. They are 55 million Hispanic citizens in the U.S, according to the census, but they are more likely than other minorities to stay home on Election Day. Five months before the polls, both Republicans and Democrats are desperately struggling to seduce them. Despite the millions spent in TV and radio advertisement in Spanish, it…
By CaixaBank research team, in Barcelona | Oil intensified its correction and, between 20 April and 21 March fell by 10.7%, reaching 109.10 dollars per barrel (Brent quality, for one-month deliveries). Crude was therefore 1.1% above its level at the start of 2012 but 2.1% below its level of a year ago, which will pull down April and May's CPI in most economies. Oil prices confirm that they are following…
free advice on getting your ex girlfriend back NEW YORK | California's new fiscal year begins July 1 with a massive problem: a $16 billion hole, the biggest deficit of the 50 states. Without one budget in place, the Golden State would not be able to make certain payments to schools or pay salaries of officials and their staff. While part of Europe suffers from austerity, California's lawmakers are also…
LONDON | The People's Bank of China eased the cost of credit with a 25-basic point cut on the benchmark interest rates, unlike its counter-parties in Europe. The Chinese central bank set the 1-year lending rate at 6.31 percent from 6.56 percent, and issued new conditions under which retail banks are allowed to offer loans, now with a 20 percent discount instead of the previous official 10 percent. Is the…
make your ex gf come back NEW YORK | She has traveled from South Africa to New York, almost 8,000 miles (13,000 kilometers), to do some useful networking. Melanie Medell, who runs her own textile company in Cape Town, is one of the 47 African women from 37 countries participating in the third annual Africa Women Entrepreneurship Program (AWEP). During three weeks, they will engage in conferences and professional training…
how to get your ex girlfriend back in a month LONDON | In came this week the numbers of German industrial production, and those who stir up the threat of an approaching euro area-wide recession saw its arguments confirmed: from March to April, Germany registered a 2.2 percent decline, a whole 1.2 percent under market expectations. The figure, 2.2 percent from 2.8 percent in March, placed that month's industrial production…