That the peripheral economies of the euro zone show time and again evident scars of a struggling performance is bad news, but known bad news after all. The close scrutiny to which Spain and Italy are being subjected leaves little room for surprises. All the alarms get restless, though, when core Europe somehow stumbles. And Germany has for some quarters now been bitten here and there by the decay surrounding it…
LONDON | Kevin Burke, director at Visa Inc, believes that the Olympics work as a showcase for athletics, and the same goes for tourism. Burke released Wednesday data on Visa accounts spending levels of international travelers during the second week of the London 2012 Games, which reached $716.7 million. The figures mark a steady line, the total being $1.4 billion. Visitors from the US lead the top 10 list, some…
By CaixaBank research team, in Madrid | According to the Spanish Royal Academy, «rescatar» or bail out in Spanish is to release from danger, harm, trouble or oppression. Given the misgivings that the outcome of the Greek elections might lead to the country leaving the euro, something that would have hindered the considerable financing needs of Spain and Italy over the coming months, the Eurogroup welcomed the Spanish request and…
By CaixaBank research team, in Barcelona | After the first six months of the year, it’s time to think about the current situation of the economy and its prospects for the second half of the year. There are two main lines along which the euro area’s activity is running. Firstly, the consensus that its institutional design is not enough to tackle the challenges posed by the current crisis. The absence…
NEW YORK | Their outlook remains negative, but there is some brightness in the horizon, the agency reckons. Standard and Poors will not cut Spain’s rating because it believes the country has done its homework, showing a strong commitment to economic and fiscal adjustment. It will continue to receive support from its European partners and the ECB and therefore its debt will remain below 80 percent of GDP beyond 2015….
The euro zone’s doggedness showed up again in the latest quarterly European sector accounts released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, and the European Central Bank. From January to March of 2012, compared with the last three months of 2011, the business investment rate remained nearly stable in the euro area and fell slightly in the wider European Union. Also, the business profit share even rose slightly in the euro area, as wage costs remained…
President François Hollande made as many promises as European politicians accustom to lure their voters with during election campaigns. In one occasion, the French leader vowed to create up to 80,000 jobs in the private sector and hire 60,000 more workers in the education department alone. Right now, this would come handy to tackle the country’s rising unemployment. Last June, the headline number of jobseekers in France jumped significantly for…
Economist Ricardo R. Reis expects “better policymaking from the European authorities now.” Originally from Portugal, Reis teaches at Columbia University, he is a former graduate from the London School of Economics and Harvard Ph.D and has worked extensively on inflation dynamics and monetary and fiscal policy, including evaluation of fiscal stimulus programs. He gives his take on the current economic turmoil for our readers in the first of a summer…
The European Commission announced Friday it had temporarily approved a bridge recapitalisation via the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (HFSF) for Alpha Bank, EFG Eurobank, Piraeus Bank and National Bank of Greece. The injection of public capital will be provided under EU State aid rules to ensure the entities’ financial stability. But, at the same time, the Commission said it had also opened four in-depth investigations to examine whether the measure…
LONDON | Even before the office for national statistics released its estimates of a UK economy in continued slow-motion deterioration, 84 percent of small and medium size companies’ decision makers said they were concerned about the British economic climate, with 38% being very concerned. A new SME Risk Index from global insurer Zurich published Friday showed that the majority in the sector do not feel confident that the economic situation will improve in…