WASHINGTON | What a coincidence. In an election year with a Democratic incumbent, Republican think tank American Enterprise Institute (AEI) releases (on January 6) an analysis headlined “Why the real U.S. unemployment is 15.6%.” The number is right… although if we count the unemployed plus the discouraged workers, those who have abandoned the job search because they know there are no jobs to search for, plus the part-time workers who…
By Juan Pedro Marín Arrese, in Madrid | It is only fair that banks being nationalised to save them from sheer collapse should follow a much restrictive pay policy on top executives and members of the board. After all, a huge amount of taxpayer money has been spent to fill the gaps derived from irresponsible management. The odd thing is that most culprits have already left the entities with their pockets…
By Juan Pedro Marín Arrese, in Madrid | The outline of the financial reform, announced yesterday on Thursday by the Spanish minister of Economy, fails to provide the clue of what the government is aiming at. To begin with, the picture we were presented was one of sheer disarray: big holes in the balance sheets covered with meagre provisions and not a single tender word for the financial system. One…
MADRID | Since December, the Spanish Treasury has had a series of successive successes in its debt offers, even exceeding their expectations in many of them. On Thursday, it happened again. The agency under the ministry of Economy and Competitiveness placed €4,560 million in bonds, the maximum planned, at more moderate rates than on the previous occasion according to data released by the Bank of Spain. Specifically, the Treasury placed…
By Julia Pastor, in Madrid | The president of the bank Santander Emilio Botín knows very well what he is talking about, and from where he is talking. He has a privileged position. He leads the most powerful and respected bank, not only in Spain but also in Europe. That is why on Tuesday, during the conference press to render and explain the banks’ last year results, he could afford…
By Cotizalia.com | The second biggest event of the year for Spanish listed companies will be taking place on February 1. After the Spain Investors’ Day, that was held on January 11,12, next month will see a classic: the eighteenth edition of Santander’s Iberian Conference. After a 2011 marked by heavy stock market falls that have reduced again the average market capitalisation of the Spanish listed companies, the big news…
By Juan Pedro Marín Arrese, in Madrid | The Spanish Government has just approved a bill enshrining the budget golden rule by 2020. It aims to balance income and expenditure over the cycle, departing from that principle only in exceptional circumstances like a full-fledged recession. Such far away objective seems less than ambitious. Especially taking into account the loose path established to ensure that goal. Reducing debt by 2% only if…
[UPDATE] By Julia Pastor, in MADRID | The Spanish president Mariano Rajoy visited Berlin on Thursday. It was his first official meeting with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel since he was sworn in as president. Against the backdrop of the next January 31 European summit, it was expected that Rajoy would propose Merkel to relax Spain’s deficit ceiling for 2012 and 2013, considering the appreciable cutting of IMF’s growth perspectives for…
BARCELONA | ESADE and BBVA Foundation in collaboration with PricewaterhouseCoopers on Wednesday opened the second edition of Momentum Project 2012. The initiative aims to contribute to the development of social entrepreneurship in Spain, creating a support network for these companies to consolidate, grow and increase their impact. In the first edition, Momentum funded seven projects with a €3 million capital injection through a finance tool designed by BBVA. The presentation in…