MADRID | By JP Marín Arrese | Stock markets all over the world are plummeting while bond yields have regressed to fresh lows, as investors grow increasingly worried about growth prospects. Signs the US economy might be slowing down, coupled with the Eurozone plight, paints a gloomy scenario. Yet, the utter lack of direction in policies across the Atlantic stands as the most worrying concern.
ATHENS | By Nick Malkoutzis via MacroPolis | A newspaper article on Sunday, quoting an allegedly secret report by officials at Greece’s General Accounting Office and the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT), claims that the country’s deficit figure in 2009 was “over-dramatised” (or “sexed up” if you prefer) by the PASOK government that took over in October of that year.
LONDON | The Confederation of British Industry said Thursday that household spending will remain subdued, with weak wage growth and unemployment rising to a peak of 2.86 million in the first quarter of 2013. The CBI published its latest quarterly forecast in a somehow hopeful tone, though, voicing prospects of inflation improving next year with further falls, and disposable incomes beginning to recover. The business association pointed out that recent…
By Fernando Barciela | News that Portugal’s major cities grounded to a halt Thursday pointed at an initial victory for labour unions, which began today a 24-hour strike against austerity measures agreed by the government in return for an international bailout. Demonstrations and rallies were also planned in 38 cities and towns across the country, including Lisbon. Six months have been enough for prime minister Pedro Passos Coelho to become the most unpopular…
By Juan Pedro Marín Arrese, in Madrid | The way the data on the Spanish deficit snowballed from 6% in mid-December to 8% a few weeks later and to 8.51% now, has led many to raise their eyebrows in utter disbelief. Even allowing for some benign neglect shown by the out coming government, such a huge deviation adds little credit to budgetary figures outside central administration boundaries. It not only proves…