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In Europe 6th April 2012

Easter read (2) | Two years digging an empty grave for the euro

Many economists and the Anglo-Saxon financial gurus have been killing the euro month after month since early 2010. But, even if their doomsday predictions have miserably failed so far, their negative influence over the markets can not be neglected. By Fernando Barciela, in Madrid | PART 1 | We heard Noel Roubini prophesying the end of the euro early in 2010 at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in a somewhat evanescent fashion (“an increasing risk and an approaching…

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In Europe 5th April 2012

Easter read (1) | Two years digging an empty grave for the euro

Many economists and the Anglo-Saxon financial gurus have been killing the euro month after month since early 2010. But, even if their doomsday predictions have miserably failed so far, their negative influence over the markets can not be neglected. By Fernando Barciela, in Madrid | In one of his recent and terrifying articles  about the euro and the sovereign debt crisis in the Financial Times, ‘There is no Spanish siesta for the eurozone‘, Wolfgang Münchau found that many…

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Markets 3rd April 2012

The City is having a good time as some of the worst risks over the euro area ease

LONDON | The volume of business in the financial services sector grew for the eighth quarter running and at well above the average pace in the three months to March. A CBI/PwC Financial Services Survey reported this week green shoots in the City, with the first rise in optimism among financial services firms (+32%) in a year and an unexpected increase in employment in the sector (a balance of +19%). Ian McCafferty, CBI…

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In Europe 29th March 2012

Tough: Britain is experiencing the worst recovery in its history

By Luis Arroyo, in Madrid | The United Kingdom learnt this week that in 2011 its economy grew by 0.4%, leaving the level of real GDP at 4.1% below the maximum point reached before the recession. The Bank of England, theoretically, has put in place successive programmes of monetary expansion, but what it has achieved is a rise in inflation up to 5%. Meanwhile, many blame budget cuts for the deficit of…

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Markets 20th March 2012

Still no growth in the horizon for Greece: the story so far

By Begoña Castiella, in Athens | How could one of the poorest, smallest countries in the euro zone endanger the common currency? How could 300 members of the Greek parliament from five political parties and with allegedly little economic knowledge paralyse during two years reforms and budget adjustments that were urgently necessary to reduce the nation’s public debt? And despite two bailouts and a bond restructuring that has cut down in more…

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In Europe 19th March 2012

Prime minister Cameron has upset UK’s millionaires, says Skandia

LONDON | Discontent about the government’s economic policies fuels a desire to leave Britain among millionaires, whose confidence in the coalition cabinet’s economic policies is falling as their finances suffer. Just under half the UK’s millionaires, according to a research published Monday by investment specialist Skandia, would set home somewhere else. Graham Bentley, Skandia UK’s head of investment strategy, echoed the wealthiest’s mute threat, accusing primer minister David Cameron of aping…

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Companies 15th March 2012

Zara arrives in New York’s 5th Avenue

NEW YORK | In allegedly the most expensive shopping street in the world, Zara inaugurated Wednesday its new flagship store. Fashionistas, entrepreneurs and journalists attended the Spanish clothing retailer debut, which is their US largest bet so far. The company  bought the real estate property for $324 million and claims the store to be a totally new concept. Would it be worth the money? Hard to say, but the visit of…

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World economy 12th March 2012

Make the banks pay for their sins… with taxpayers’ cash?: US latest episode

NEW YORK | These are not the best days for being a banker. Banks lent irresponsibly, they were bailed out with public money, and then started a robo-signing foreclosures campaign. All while tightening the credit to small businesses. Now they are starting to pay their penance –some are taking even more of it than they were supposed to. Bank of America said that it will provide deeper than anticipated principal…

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Markets 5th March 2012

The giant beast of Credit Default Swaps is getting nervous

NEW YORK | Officials from the International Swaps and Derivatives Association have stated that Greece has not had a ‘credit event’ and credit default swap payments will not be triggered, at least not yet. The body’s decision has reignited the debate over the usefulness of CDS. CDS are a US$32 trillion market, which is more than twice the US gross domestic product and more than twice the national debt. They…

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Spanish economy 24th February 2012

De Guindos to explain Spanish plan to grow

“We have a plan to combine fiscal consolidation with structural reforms in order to jumpstart growth in the country and help stabilize the euro area.” This was the core message of the Spanish minister of Economy and Competiveness Luis de Guindos’ speech on Friday at the Brookings Institution, a center-left Washington-based think tank. In his first official trip to the US, De Guindos also held a meeting with the most…