BERKELEY | By Carola Binder | The author compares the fiscal crisis in the 1840 in the US with what happened in the euro zone. Back in the XIX century state governments in America saw infrastructure projects fail and land values and tax revenue fell further, eroding their fiscal positions, making it harder for them to issue bonds and forcing them to pay higher interest rates. Something similar to what Greece is suffering.
While the US enjoy an economic confidence recovery, euro zone members have to put up with a failed mix of austerity measures and monetary expansion. The strategy must be changed since there are few signs of improvement in the real economy, none in the case of Spain.
MADRID | By Luis Arroyo | It is a grave mistake to stubbornly defend the application of the same strict rules whether the economy is growing or in recession, and social unrest and missed fiscal targets are testament to how wrong the current European policies are.
LONDON | by Alex Biddle | A British Investment Bank would not stop boom and bust as such, but would be able to ensure that productive businesses get credit in the most difficult of times.
MADRID |By Carlos Álvaro at Capital Madrid | Latin America’s Pacific Alliance is meeting this week in Colombia. For Spain, it might be a gateway to Asian markets that could bring some hope in times of crisis. Many analysts also consider it “the new Brazil”, the best option for foreign investors who want to enter the juicy Latin American market.
MADRID | By Irene Matías | The world’s largest payment networks asked a federal judge in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan to rule that their practices for setting fees paid by merchants who accept credit and debit cards aren’t anticompetitive. Large retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores, Starbucks and Gap refuse any settlement and may bring additional lawsuits against the payment networks. But on top of all of this the real loser are the consumers.
Angela Merkel refuses to levy tariffs of 47% on Chinese solar panel imports because she fears damaging China-Germany relations and being shut out of its market. However, in Ray Kwong’s view, Berlin is too dependent on China’s economic engine, which could crack anytime due to territorial conflicts, too-rapid expansion of credit, lax environmental oversight, widening discontent among the population and many other legitimate problems.
VALENCIA | By Lucía Sapiña | Recent research has reopened the ethical debate on the limits of science and the mostly feared possibility of human cloning.
A new dispute among EU members has arisen. This time is not an austerian versus keynesian brawl but a shall-we-punish-Chinese-dumping one. Next week the Commission will decide whether to impose big tariffs to the $27 billion worth of solar panels that China sells to Europe each year. In this battle over how to respond to Beijing trade practices, will domestic interests prevail?
By Ray Kwong | Broad strokes, when you’re talking about the 21st century possibly becoming the Asian Century, one thing becomes crystal clear: it’s not preordained and it’s not just all about China. With its varied cultures and emphasis on education, self-reliance and upward mobility, Asia may overtake the West as the world’s economic engine.