Don’t worry about the external deficit. The Spanish economy needs permanent capital inflows and that isn’t really a problem when the country can generate income to cover interests and dividends. Look at Australia, suggests economist Luis Arroyo.
The European Commission accuses China of subsidising its production at home and selling at an uncompetitive low price in Europe. But these days, China is heavily investing in the Old Continent, and some euro zone governments like Germany favour a soft approach instead of fines.
Community jargon shows how mere wishful thinking is turned into what seems a rock-solid reality-to-be. The EU is full of expectations that never materialize. Yet, this shortcoming does not deter officials from bombastically naming policies or mechanisms as if there was no chance they might derail. Just take the rescue label so often applied to Greece. One takes for granted that once you are rescued from peril you can consider…
From stable to negative. Moody’s new rating for Europe puts the continent on notice and made some European stock markets slip on Tuesday. According to the agency, Germany, France, the UK and the Netherlands could stop fulfilling their obligations to the EU if the crisis worsens. These four countries account for about 45% of the EU’s budget revenue. “The creditworthiness of these member states is highly correlated, as they are…
MADRID | European Commission vice-president Viviane Reding, who is also the EU’s Justice commissioner, highlighted Friday an announcement by the Spanish government that it intends to improve legal certainty for property owners along the country’s coast. Homes have been affected by the Coastal Law for several years now and buyers involved have repeatedly brought their case to Brussels, under the impression that Spanish authorities were not sufficiently active in tackling abuses. The…
Financial deceit within institutions whose accountability is precarious has a multiplying effect. The abuse of money immediately passes for an embedded practice, and the actual size of the affair is consequently believed to be much larger. After all, as it happens with European Union officers, taxpayers would despair for the lack of their habitual democratic recourse to make those responsible feel their anger. That is why the latest data on…
Being a member of the euro club continues offering confusing evidence of providing protection against the global economic downturn. In the construction sector, seasonally adjusted production rose by 0.1% in the euro area while it grew 1.6% in the European Union in May 2012, compared with the previous month. But in April 2012, production had decreased by 3.7% in the common currency region and 6.9% outside it. Compared with May 2011, production in…
how can i get back with my ex This year's edition of the rencontres économiques, which the French Cércle de Économistes hosts in Aix-en-Provence since 2001, was condemned to debate the worrying health of the euro zone. The subject might have ruined the weekend when it took place, from July 6, though that didn't happen, probably because there is little coincidence in the fact that this economists' lobby seeks no common…
LONDON | Whether it is electoral incentives or sincere concern what compelled the UK government to call for supervision from outside the banking sector, free market advocates must have felt an acute sense of betrayal. On Tuesday, the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne no only reminded the City that the British Bankers Association members will not see a penny of the £290-million fine that has been imposed to Barclays…
In five out of nine times that the European Council has met since January 2011, market expectations have been missed. Analysts at BNP Paribas have done the research, which supports the heavy air of pessimism surrounding this Thursday's euro summit that is set to present some sort of action plan on Friday. “Although it is improbable that we get a final solution to the euro area crisis,” BNP Paribas said…