LONDON | As the markets are rocked by France’s presidential elections and attention continues to linger on Spain, where official figures announced that it is once again in recession, currency specialists HiFX reported on Monday a 175% increase in euro sales. The move could benefit euro country members’ exports to the United Kingdom but it would hurt the British economy, as 40% of foreign sales go to the European Monetary…
MADRID | Brussels seems to start taking growth into serious consideration. Up to now it follows the line that bringing deficit under tight control would be enough to trigger recovery, austerity standing as the only recipe to cure every shortcoming. The severe downturn that currently plunges European economies into utter disarray is casting doubts on the merits of such a simplistic view. Countries having lived beyond their means face now a…
A curated selection of links we hope can enlighten us all; some come from our corner, some do from other corners of the net. And as always, our comment widgets are anxious to get your suggestions. France isn’t talking about its economy The digital revolution, mind the bit Why Argentina’s president is wrong Everyone talks about Spain… …And many don’t know really what they are saying Democracy and the euro Hollande…
By LaCaixa Research Team, in Barcelona | In the years prior to the recession that started in the last decade, in many countries the gradually increasing debt of the private sector allowed for much more intensive economic growth than would have been seen without it. The abrupt appearance of the crisis frustrated this expansion and revealed an excessive level of debt. This debt is now a heavy burden that can counteract…
MADRID | The German Treasury placed Wednesday €2.4 billion in 30-year bunds with an average return of 2.41%, down from 2.62% in the previous auction. The bid to cover dropped to 1.1 times from 2.1 times. Berlin admitted that demand had been lower than expected, and the total sale volume planned had been left uncovered. In a note to investors, Citigroup in Spain commented on the German explanations and made an interested, interesting comparison: “This reflects a context of volatility and uncertainty, but more importantly, the…
By Jesús Sánchez-Quinones, in Madrid, for Cotizalia | Europe has for more than three years now been immersed in a profound crisis of its economy and beyond. The focus of trouble has been moving from country to country. First it was Greece, when its authorities acknowledged that they had falsified its public account figures in late 2009. After Greece, the focus shifted to Ireland when his government had to seek a bailout to…
Awaiting the government’s official figures, which will be released next 30 April, the forecast published this week by the Bank of Spain should be taken as a telling sign of the success that austerity budgets throughout euro peripheral State members are enjoying. The Spanish central bank said that it expects the country’s economic activity to fall by 0.4pc during the first quarter of 2012, a one-tenth down from 2011’s last…
MADRID | The Dutch coalition collapse coupled with the plausible fiscal pact rebuke following the poll outcome in France has severely undermined investors’ confidence. Trust on discipline driven governance in the euro zone is crumbling. Losing in a row two key stalwart bastions of tough budgetary rules has sent shivers to the markets. Further challenges are expected to materialise as the austerity overdose dents popular support for governments at pains to…
By Luis Arroyo, in Madrid | What I would like to do here is bringing a magnifying glass on to a recent lapse of time and see if the fourth euro crisis (yes, I said fourth) has somehow cooled the US economy down. It’s possible, you know. In the US, the authorities are beginning to see signs of how the economic activity is loosing steam, such as in weekly claims for unemployment…
A curated selection of links we hope can enlighten us all; some come from our corner, some do from other corners of the net. And as always, our comment widgets are anxious to get your suggestions. Oh no, one more bubble!!! The problem with the euro: it isn’t sexy We need oil speculators, actually Derivatives are dangerous, how many times do we have to say this? China has workforce difficulties, too…