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Markets 14th December 2011

BBVA’s president González: “The UK will accept the new EU measures”

MADRID | The president of BBVA, Francisco González, commented at a press conference in Seul during the inauguration of a new branch in the Korean capital, that the worst part of European debt crisis is already over. González’s statement did not go unnoticed in any of the Spanish economic newspapers. “Francisco González pointed out that there would be no problems in the implementation of measures agreed during the meeting of European leaders…

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In Europe 14th December 2011

UK SMEs’ directors feel the pinch, inequality gap widens

LONDON | The average 2011 annual pay for directors of small companies, with a turnover of less than £5mn a year, has fallen by £5,000 from the levels of five years ago (£87,500 in 2007). In the last 12 months alone, their average pay has fallen by 15% or over £14,000 taking their total pay package to £82,500 (in 2010 it was £96,568). Directors of larger organisations, with a turnover of…

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aggregation line 10th December 2011

Weekend link fest

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: Why there is further pressure about to fall all over the euro Who’s blocking the Congressional Insider Trading Act? The EU is about to invade Great Britain!!! What David Cameron really, really wanted What have…

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Interviews 9th December 2011

Theatrical Cameron shocks no one

By Julia Pastor, in Madrid | The British prime minister, David Cameron, warned during the last few days that he would not accept the reform of the European treaties if the assumed modifications harmed his country’s interests. As it couldn’t be otherwise, he kept his promise. Cameron said on Friday that “it was a difficult decision to make, but the right one. What was proposed is not in accordance with…

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World economy 9th December 2011

UK vs EU, and Australia, China, Japan, US right now

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index®(LEI) for the UK decreased 0.4 percent in both October and September, after decreasing 0.5 percent in August. Jean-Claude Manini, The Conference Board Senior Economist for Europe, said: “The slight improvement in stock prices did not offset the further and broad based deterioration of confidence measures. Coupled with the persistent weakness in the LEI, current economic conditions suggest that the British economy is at risk…

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In Europe 8th November 2011

Not one sterling pound to save the euro!

To help or not help the euro zone? This is the question about which the British prime minister David Cameron is being forced to discuss in and out of his own government. Meanwhile, the reflections of the country’s economy look healthy only by comparison against the battered image of the European continent at the financial mirror.  LONDON | You may not know Jeremy Browne, but when you read the recent remarks…

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aggregation line 19th September 2011

A hole in Number 11, Downing Street

LONDON | There was a bit of a kerfuffle in UK politics, not to mention economics, when the Financial Times‘ (FT) Monday edition announced it had reached a 25 per cent-difference conclusion on what the country’s structural deficit actually weighs. The FT researchers, the newspaper explained, had spent the British summer making swift calculations –while probably reading Aristotle and his “Metaphysics“: they followed the government’s own mathematics formula to bring…