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usa y europa1

World economy 21st October 2013

Dysfunctionality in both sides of the Atlantic

MADRID | By JP Marin Arrese | In the aftermath of the last minute deal brokered in Congress to avoid a devastating US default, Obama warned against turning disagreement into highly disruptive “dysfunctionality”. A rather mild way to portray the utter economic wreckage any further delay in solving the debt ceiling deadlock would have prompted. Faced with a similar challenge in a couple of months, he chose to play down the reckless Republican attitude in the House, praising instead the bipartisan efforts to prevent the worst from happening.

No Picture

World economy 19th October 2013

Weekend Read: How Sugar Man Moved Spain

MADRID | By Javier Arce | “Searching for a sugar man”, the incredible life of Sixto Rodríguez masterfully told by Malik Bendjellou, is leaving the Spanish billboard after 34 weeks. So unexpected as undeniable success: the film is, after “Bowling for Columbine”, the most seen documentary in the history of Spanish theaters.

Scienceart

World economy 18th October 2013

From Science to Arts, an Inevitable Decision?

By Roberto Benavent at BBVA OPENMIND | Russian writers Anton Chejov and Fyodor Dostoyevsky or Spanish Pio Baroja are only among the distinguished authors that studied engineering or medicine before devoting themselves to the arts.  Is it merely a coincidence? And why is it so unusual to find examples where it has happened the other way round?

credit rating

World economy 17th October 2013

U.S. creditworthiness at stake

MADRID | By J.P. Marín Arrese | US Congress brokered a last-minute deal to prevent sovereign default and shutdown. Yet a deep damage has been inflicted on the country’s image. Holding Medicare as a hostage happened to be a bad movement that backfired on hard-line Republicans. Unable to implement their doomsday bet, they’ve been confronted to a great amount of public pressure.

China into the artic

World economy 17th October 2013

China into the Arctic

MASSACHUSETTS | By Richard N. Cooper via Caixin | As ice cover yields to global warming, many countries are eying a range of economic benefits, but they may be harder to attain than imagined.

Knowledge and global order

World economy 17th October 2013

Knowledge and Global Order

OXFORD | By Nayef Al-Rodhanvia via BBVA Open Mind | “Why do they hate us?” is a question often asked among the American population since September 11, 2001. At the same time, Arab-Islamic populations around the world find themselves in a similar predicament. Ubiquitous misrepresentations and alienating stereotypes pervade through security discourses, conflating images of an extremist minority with the attitudes of the peaceful majority.

No Picture

World economy 17th October 2013

US budget bill: The futility of the Tea Party’s ‘fiscal tantrums’

WASHINGTON | By Pablo Pardo | To lose faith in mankind, there is nothing better than following the debt ceiling and government shutdown debate in the United States. Just one example: a big chunk of the whole discussion has been a medical device tax that, once implemented, would generate in revenue the equivalent of 0.015 percent of the US GDP–or, approximately, 3 percent of the federal deficit.

SHUTDOWN2

World economy 16th October 2013

U.S. Default Averted…. But For How Long?

NEW YORK |  By Ana Fuentes | U.S. Senate finally reached an agreement to avoid default and end the Government shutdown. Now it’s time for Congress to approve it before midnight although there is formal certainty that economic mayhem has been averted. The world’s largest economy has needed 16 days of partial closure of its Administration, warnings from Wall Street, China, Japan, the IMF… to curb its political fight between Republicans and Democrats. The deal will extend the credit authority of the United States until February 7, and let the Government continue funding its operations until January 15. For many it is just a patch and we will watch the same political ping-pong again after Christmas.