Bungling with Russia over Crimea will send the West knocked out with a bloody nose. One way or another, it was a crisis a long time coming. Europe has arguably sleepwalked into a reluctant confrontation with Russia. The continent’s next-door behemoth of a neighbor, saddled by a man it secretly detests the most, is also its largest energy supplier, irascible trading partner and purveyor of most maladies diplomatic.
BERLIN | By Alberto Lozano | German Council of economic experts (‘the Five Wise Men’) upgraded its forecast for the country’s GDP growth in 2014 to 1.9 percent from its previous expectation of 1.6 percent in November last year. However, the last Ifo’s data show that global events like Crimea crisis and a slowing Chinese GDP growth can badly impact the euro zone’s engine.
MADRID | By Álex García.
MADRID | By Jaime Santisteban | It could be a big deal. The Spanish government has to evaluate a comprehensive report on the tax system reforms handed by an experts’ comittee “We have spared no one,” they’ve said. Will this really boost simplicity and efficiency? Market makers await further details about where the government stands on each proposal. Besides, focus remains in Ukraine ans the polemic referendum in Crimea, and in China, whose PM announced that more defaults are coming.