The European economy remains firmly in the grip of the Covid-19 pandemic. Since September, the number of new infections has been on the rise again in most European member states. By the time the books were closed on our autumn forecast on 22 October, a second wave of the pandemic was in full swing across much of Europe. With infections spreading and hospitals under pressure once more, governments are left with little choice but to put in place new restrictions to curb the rapidly rising epidemiological trend and bring it back to more tolerable levels. But the economy is still suffering from the deep contraction in the first half of the year and authorities are striving to keep the scope and duration of the restrictions to social life and economic activity as limited as possible.
Read complete report at:
Key features of the Commission’s Autumn 2020 forecast | VOX, CEPR Policy Portal
Showing posts with label European Economy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label European Economy. Show all posts
6/15/16
European Economy: OECD: European Economy Is Slowly Recovering But New Challenges Are Emerging
The European economy is gradually recovering but further policy
action will be required to address unresolved legacies of the global
economic crisis that are weighing on growth and major new concerns that
have emerged, according to two new OECD reports.
The latest OECD Economic Surveys of the European Union and of the Euro Area, presented today in Paris by OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría, underline the challenges facing European policymakers. Although growth has gradually strengthened, unemployment in many countries is still high, investment remains below pre-crisis levels in most European countries, and credit growth is still sluggish.
The Surveys project EU GDP will grow by 1.8% this year and 1.9% in 2017, while GDP in the euro area will grow by 1.6% this year and 1.7% in 2017.
‘Europe has put the worst of the crisis behind it, but there is still much more to do to support a full robust recovery that benefits all Europeans,’ Mr Gurría said. ‘Most of the recommendations in these two Economic Surveys have one thing in common: they call for collective action by European countries. Cooperative solutions have enabled Europe to leave the worst of the crisis behind it. But continued cooperation is still needed to implement effective solutions to common problems.
The alternative to collective action is not the status quo, but something worse: the risk that Europe will move backwards. This would jeopardise what has been achieved to date by the Single Market and the rest of the EU acquis, decreasing growth and destroying jobs across Europe.’
The Surveys say that countries with fiscal space should use budgetary spending to boost growth. Given the deep cuts in public investment since the global financial crisis, the reports recommend increasing public support for key investment projects. Enacting broad reforms to tax structures and public spending would also favour growth.
Easing financial constraints would bring benefits across the economy, notably to private sector firms considering future investment plans. This will require addressing one of the legacies of the crisis – the resolution of non-performing loans in many countries, which threaten financial stability and act as a drag on bank credit.
Waivers could be applied to the new Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive rules to help put in place government-supported schemes when non-performing loans are a serious economic disturbance, the Surveys said.
The Surveys discuss the need for additional steps to deepen the single European market, notably with regard to labour mobility, which can be a key tool to reduce unemployment and boost productivity.
Reducing administrative and regulatory barriers in the services sector and speeding up the recognition of professional qualifications from one country to another would encourage internal mobility, the Surveys said.
Read moreL OECD: European Economy Is Slowly Recovering But Legacies Of The Crisis Remain And New Challenges Are Emerging | Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide
The latest OECD Economic Surveys of the European Union and of the Euro Area, presented today in Paris by OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría, underline the challenges facing European policymakers. Although growth has gradually strengthened, unemployment in many countries is still high, investment remains below pre-crisis levels in most European countries, and credit growth is still sluggish.
The Surveys project EU GDP will grow by 1.8% this year and 1.9% in 2017, while GDP in the euro area will grow by 1.6% this year and 1.7% in 2017.
‘Europe has put the worst of the crisis behind it, but there is still much more to do to support a full robust recovery that benefits all Europeans,’ Mr Gurría said. ‘Most of the recommendations in these two Economic Surveys have one thing in common: they call for collective action by European countries. Cooperative solutions have enabled Europe to leave the worst of the crisis behind it. But continued cooperation is still needed to implement effective solutions to common problems.
The alternative to collective action is not the status quo, but something worse: the risk that Europe will move backwards. This would jeopardise what has been achieved to date by the Single Market and the rest of the EU acquis, decreasing growth and destroying jobs across Europe.’
The Surveys say that countries with fiscal space should use budgetary spending to boost growth. Given the deep cuts in public investment since the global financial crisis, the reports recommend increasing public support for key investment projects. Enacting broad reforms to tax structures and public spending would also favour growth.
Easing financial constraints would bring benefits across the economy, notably to private sector firms considering future investment plans. This will require addressing one of the legacies of the crisis – the resolution of non-performing loans in many countries, which threaten financial stability and act as a drag on bank credit.
Waivers could be applied to the new Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive rules to help put in place government-supported schemes when non-performing loans are a serious economic disturbance, the Surveys said.
The Surveys discuss the need for additional steps to deepen the single European market, notably with regard to labour mobility, which can be a key tool to reduce unemployment and boost productivity.
Reducing administrative and regulatory barriers in the services sector and speeding up the recognition of professional qualifications from one country to another would encourage internal mobility, the Surveys said.
Read moreL OECD: European Economy Is Slowly Recovering But Legacies Of The Crisis Remain And New Challenges Are Emerging | Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide
4/16/16
European Economy - Peoples Capitalism: Crowdfunding helps Europe’s businesses boom
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| Peoples Capitalism |
“Global crowdfunding was more than 30 billion euros last year,” Lasse Makela, CEO of the Invesdor crowd-funding platform, told euronews’ Serge Rombi.
“It’s growing by more than 100 percent per year. And it’s going to be larger than venture capital financing this year.”
In the autonomous Aland islands in the Baltic Sea, a family-run SME produces 100 percent natural lemonade, using only local products.
In 2014, Tony Asumaa – founder of Amalias Limonadfabrik – realised that he needed to expand production and he immediately opted for crowdfunding.
“We chose crowdfunding because it was cheap, efficient, fast and, above all, non-bureaucratic – to get new capital into the company,” he said.
Through Lasse’s platform, Tony won more than 86-thousand euros in equity crowdfunding.
In other words, those who invested in his company are now shareholders.
“We have 163 new shareholders. As our ambassadors, they promote our products, they sell them. Some restaurant owners sell products throughout the country,” said Tony.
Read more: Crowdfunding helps Europe’s businesses boom | euronews, business planet
EU-Digest
3/2/15
Energy: EU seeks to create single European energy market
EU officials on Wednesday unveiled a new plan to create a single European market for energy supplies, purchases and consumption.
The European Commission argues merging the 28 EU energy markets will lower costs and diversify supplies.
European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic called it “undoubtedly the most ambitious energy project” in the EU’s history.
He said the plans could save businesses and consumers up to 40 billion euros a year.
Today, the bloc buys nearly one-third of its natural gas from Russia’s energy giant Gazprom.
The EU executive says that weaning Europe off Russian gas is essential to guarantee the continent’s energy security for the coming years.
Whilst the 28 member countries are keen to secure their energy supplies, they also have commitments to cut emissions linked to global warming.
Environmental campaigners say a goal to have a 27 percent clean energy market share by 2030 doesn’t go far enough.
Read more: EU seeks to create single European energy market | euronews, Europe
The European Commission argues merging the 28 EU energy markets will lower costs and diversify supplies.
European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic called it “undoubtedly the most ambitious energy project” in the EU’s history.
He said the plans could save businesses and consumers up to 40 billion euros a year.
Today, the bloc buys nearly one-third of its natural gas from Russia’s energy giant Gazprom.
The EU executive says that weaning Europe off Russian gas is essential to guarantee the continent’s energy security for the coming years.
Whilst the 28 member countries are keen to secure their energy supplies, they also have commitments to cut emissions linked to global warming.
Environmental campaigners say a goal to have a 27 percent clean energy market share by 2030 doesn’t go far enough.
Read more: EU seeks to create single European energy market | euronews, Europe
10/2/14
ECB: Mario Draghi defends ECB as anti-austerity protests rock Naples -- by Graeme Wearden
If you want to seriously annoy a top policymaker, tell them people feel they’re doing a bad job.
Mario Draghi’s most animated moment in today’s press conference (coverage starts here) came when he was asked to comment on the protests that have been taking place in Naples today.
His passionate defence of the ECB’s role in the crisis – look at our interest rate cuts, our liquidity measures – suggests that the sight of his fellow Italians holding banners declaring “Block the ECB” and “Job insecurity, poverty, unemployment, speculation. Free us from the ECB!” may have hurt him.
Draghi urged critics to remember the situation in 2011 and 2012, when “the financial system seemed on the verge of collapsing”.
Read more: Mario Draghi defends ECB as anti-austerity protests rock Naples -- business live | Business | The Guardian
Mario Draghi’s most animated moment in today’s press conference (coverage starts here) came when he was asked to comment on the protests that have been taking place in Naples today.
His passionate defence of the ECB’s role in the crisis – look at our interest rate cuts, our liquidity measures – suggests that the sight of his fellow Italians holding banners declaring “Block the ECB” and “Job insecurity, poverty, unemployment, speculation. Free us from the ECB!” may have hurt him.
Draghi urged critics to remember the situation in 2011 and 2012, when “the financial system seemed on the verge of collapsing”.
Read more: Mario Draghi defends ECB as anti-austerity protests rock Naples -- business live | Business | The Guardian
9/21/14
European Economy: Why Europe is terrified of deflation - by Paul Ames
From Putin’s hordes massing over the eastern borders of Ukraine to
the army of home-grown Islamic State fanatics threatening a murderous
return from the Middle East, Europe has a lot be frightened of right now.
Yet there’s another nightmare haunting Europe’s economic policy makers: a monster called deflation that’s already clawing at the continent’s financial fundaments.
“We are meeting here at the time when Europe is facing a great threat,” Polish Finance Minister Mateusz Szczurek warned in a recent speech. “We are on the verge of deflation,” he told a Sept. 4 conference in Brussels. “As Europeans we should never forget that it was depression and deflation … that brought to power the totalitarian regime that devastated our continent through the world war and unspeakable atrocities 75 years ago.”
At first glance deflation doesn’t sound so bad.
Prices go down, what’s not to like?
Yet the cold economic reality means that when prices fall people stop spending, hoping things will get even cheaper. In response, businesses cut production and lay off workers. That means even less demand, and prices drop further.
By then, your economy’s in a vicious downward spiral.
Making things worse, those falling prices bring declining wages and worsening debt burdens.
Anybody who doubts how bad it could get should look back to the last time the United States caught a serious dose of deflation, from 1929-33. They called that the Great Depression.
Why Europe is terrified of deflation - Salon.com
Yet there’s another nightmare haunting Europe’s economic policy makers: a monster called deflation that’s already clawing at the continent’s financial fundaments.
“We are meeting here at the time when Europe is facing a great threat,” Polish Finance Minister Mateusz Szczurek warned in a recent speech. “We are on the verge of deflation,” he told a Sept. 4 conference in Brussels. “As Europeans we should never forget that it was depression and deflation … that brought to power the totalitarian regime that devastated our continent through the world war and unspeakable atrocities 75 years ago.”
At first glance deflation doesn’t sound so bad.
“Anybody who doubts how bad it could get should look back to the last time the US caught a serious dose of deflation. They called that the Great Depression.”
Yet the cold economic reality means that when prices fall people stop spending, hoping things will get even cheaper. In response, businesses cut production and lay off workers. That means even less demand, and prices drop further.
By then, your economy’s in a vicious downward spiral.
Making things worse, those falling prices bring declining wages and worsening debt burdens.
Anybody who doubts how bad it could get should look back to the last time the United States caught a serious dose of deflation, from 1929-33. They called that the Great Depression.
Why Europe is terrified of deflation - Salon.com
2/15/14
European Economy: Why a Top Credit Suisse Advisor Likes Europe
Nicole Primack has never liked idle time. Just one day after
graduating from Vassar College in 1990, she started her first full-time
job on Wall Street. She never left.
These days, the Credit Suisse financial advisor wakes up at 4:30 a.m. daily. Within two hours, she has already made the commute from her suburban New Jersey home to the Credit Suisse headquarters in Manhattan's Flatiron district.
"It's a very disciplined lifestyle, almost robotic in a way," says Primack, who can sound as much like a life coach as a financial advisor. Her daily 6 a.m. exercise routine at the corporate gym is "like my caffeine," she says. At night, she won't go to sleep before finishing every item on her daily task list.
The routine pays off: Over the past two decades, Primack, 46, has built a thriving practice from the ground up. Her three-person team manages $1.2 billion in assets for 80 families, with a typical account of $10 million. Last year, Primack ranked No. 21 on Barron's list of Top 100 Women Advisors.
Primack has held tax-advantaged municipal bonds in her accounts, "in all interest-rate environments." The key, according to Primack, is to stick with the high-quality issues: water, sewer, power, infrastructure, and higher education. Those areas tend to avoid the blowups that have faced issuers with less-secure revenue streams.
"You don't buy Newark Airport ticket-receipt bonds," Primack offers as an example. "You buy the schools, the general-obligation bonds, the essential services."
Meanwhile, Primack is content to hold the bonds until maturity, or until they're called, collecting income regardless of what happens to interest rates.
Read more: Why a Top Credit Suisse Advisor Likes Europe - Barrons.com
These days, the Credit Suisse financial advisor wakes up at 4:30 a.m. daily. Within two hours, she has already made the commute from her suburban New Jersey home to the Credit Suisse headquarters in Manhattan's Flatiron district.
"It's a very disciplined lifestyle, almost robotic in a way," says Primack, who can sound as much like a life coach as a financial advisor. Her daily 6 a.m. exercise routine at the corporate gym is "like my caffeine," she says. At night, she won't go to sleep before finishing every item on her daily task list.
The routine pays off: Over the past two decades, Primack, 46, has built a thriving practice from the ground up. Her three-person team manages $1.2 billion in assets for 80 families, with a typical account of $10 million. Last year, Primack ranked No. 21 on Barron's list of Top 100 Women Advisors.
Primack has held tax-advantaged municipal bonds in her accounts, "in all interest-rate environments." The key, according to Primack, is to stick with the high-quality issues: water, sewer, power, infrastructure, and higher education. Those areas tend to avoid the blowups that have faced issuers with less-secure revenue streams.
"You don't buy Newark Airport ticket-receipt bonds," Primack offers as an example. "You buy the schools, the general-obligation bonds, the essential services."
Meanwhile, Primack is content to hold the bonds until maturity, or until they're called, collecting income regardless of what happens to interest rates.
Read more: Why a Top Credit Suisse Advisor Likes Europe - Barrons.com
1/12/14
European-Sceptism: European commissioner is right: we can not let populism win ahead of facts on immigration
Vivane Reding, vice-president of the European commission, stated in a web chat last night that in the UK there is a perception of an “invasion of foreigners” coming to the UK to “steal jobs”.
Ms Reading is right to point out that we have fallen into scapegoating immigrants, whipped up by populists such as Nigel Farage and the tabloids.
A quick look at some of the myths behind immigration illustrates as much: ‘They are taking our jobs’
This is a cry that has rung through the ages, be it the 1960s, 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s. The historical data is undebatable that immigration helps creates jobs; the idea that employment is a zero-sum game of continual limited jobs either for immigrants or UK born workers is simply wrong.
An example of this is that in 2012 over 66 per cent of European immigration came from core EU community countries like Germany and France, providing skilled staff that are more “likely to be in higher managerial or professional occupations and they also earn 7.6 per cent (£2,035) on average more than UK workers”
In other words, the high skilled workers we need to be competitive in the world market.
To lose these young, motivated workers would be an economic disaster. As The Centre of Business Research states would be a catastrophy.
Read more: European commissioner is right: we can not let populism win ahead of facts on immigration | Left Foot Forward
“this supposed invasion of foreigners coming to the UK and stealing the jobs and stealing the social security and the health money……The fact and figures, and we all know this, show it is simply not true….I am mostly frustrated about the political leaders because what is leadership if you just try with populistic movements and populistic speech to gain votes?”Indeed, if you were to take an overview of the UK’s press today then it would appear that all of our economic woes are due to ‘benefit scroungers’ and immigrants.
Ms Reading is right to point out that we have fallen into scapegoating immigrants, whipped up by populists such as Nigel Farage and the tabloids.
A quick look at some of the myths behind immigration illustrates as much: ‘They are taking our jobs’
This is a cry that has rung through the ages, be it the 1960s, 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s. The historical data is undebatable that immigration helps creates jobs; the idea that employment is a zero-sum game of continual limited jobs either for immigrants or UK born workers is simply wrong.
An example of this is that in 2012 over 66 per cent of European immigration came from core EU community countries like Germany and France, providing skilled staff that are more “likely to be in higher managerial or professional occupations and they also earn 7.6 per cent (£2,035) on average more than UK workers”
In other words, the high skilled workers we need to be competitive in the world market.
To lose these young, motivated workers would be an economic disaster. As The Centre of Business Research states would be a catastrophy.
Read more: European commissioner is right: we can not let populism win ahead of facts on immigration | Left Foot Forward
11/3/13
Britain: Europe is an anchor for British business - by Vince Cable
For centuries, Britain has developed economically through being an open, outward-looking country. Today, the economy has a high level of global integration. The UK is the world's fifth largest exporter of goods and services, and we attract more foreign direct investment than any other European country.
While I am more worried than Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, about the risks of becoming over-reliant on financial services for growth, I do acknowledge that 60% of City-based firms are in London because of the single market, and that is important to defend because of Britain's ability to influence its rules.
However, it is clear that the UK's future prosperity will require us to adapt to new realities. Over recent decades we have seen a rapid shift in the centre of gravity of the world economy. The combined GDP of emerging economies has already overtaken that of the west, and the gap is widening. Meanwhile, new technologies are transforming the way firms do business, creating demand for greater investment in skills and infrastructure and making it easier to relocate supply chains overseas.
There are fantasists on the right who dream of a lost world of global empire and believe we can walk away from the successful trading block on our doorsteps. The opposite is true. We should take careful note of Monday's report by the Confederation of British Industry, which stresses the importance of continued EU membership. Eight out of 10 firms surveyed said they would vote to stay in the EU if there was a referendum tomorrow.
The report estimated that each British household derives annual benefits of about £3,000 a year from EU membership. That compares with an annual net contribution per person of just over £110 to the EU budget.
Significantly, the report concludes that far from acting as a constraint, the EU serves to anchor the UK's global trade. By being part of a group that is pursuing an outward-looking approach to trade, it is easier for British firms to export and invest internationally.
Read more: Europe is an anchor for British business | Vince Cable | Comment is free | The Guardian
While I am more worried than Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, about the risks of becoming over-reliant on financial services for growth, I do acknowledge that 60% of City-based firms are in London because of the single market, and that is important to defend because of Britain's ability to influence its rules.
However, it is clear that the UK's future prosperity will require us to adapt to new realities. Over recent decades we have seen a rapid shift in the centre of gravity of the world economy. The combined GDP of emerging economies has already overtaken that of the west, and the gap is widening. Meanwhile, new technologies are transforming the way firms do business, creating demand for greater investment in skills and infrastructure and making it easier to relocate supply chains overseas.
There are fantasists on the right who dream of a lost world of global empire and believe we can walk away from the successful trading block on our doorsteps. The opposite is true. We should take careful note of Monday's report by the Confederation of British Industry, which stresses the importance of continued EU membership. Eight out of 10 firms surveyed said they would vote to stay in the EU if there was a referendum tomorrow.
The report estimated that each British household derives annual benefits of about £3,000 a year from EU membership. That compares with an annual net contribution per person of just over £110 to the EU budget.
Significantly, the report concludes that far from acting as a constraint, the EU serves to anchor the UK's global trade. By being part of a group that is pursuing an outward-looking approach to trade, it is easier for British firms to export and invest internationally.
Read more: Europe is an anchor for British business | Vince Cable | Comment is free | The Guardian
10/24/13
EU - Focus on growth on eve of EU summit in Bruxelles and US NSA spying on Europeans
The summer is past and European summits return. Europe's leaders gather in Brussels on Thursday with the markets becalmed and some economic statistics to celebrate.
It is true that almost on a daily basis there are reassuring signs of progress.
The Spanish economy has just edged out of recession after two years. Since 2008 its exports have grown by an impressive 14.6%. Unemployment at above 26% may have peaked. Italy is running a trade surplus and Greece this year will register a primary budget surplus excluding debt repayments. Ireland is set to exit its bailout programme in mid-December.
And yet despite all the austerity and spending cuts the level of debt, amongst the countries that use the eurozone, is still rising.
French unemployment, which was down in August, is set to rise again. Italy is struggling to bring down its labour costs without which it cannot be competitive. The Greeks are locked in argument with their lenders over a budget gap. It may need further funding. It was revealed this week that Greeks are, on average, 40% poorer than in 2008.
Even the most Panglossian of Europe's leaders recognises that the recovery is fragile and solid growth is needed so in Brussels the leaders will concentrate on supporting and expanding the digital economy and building a single digital market.
But new allegations of US eavesdropping on Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel may also be discussed.
France's President Francois Hollande is pressing for the issue to be put on the summit agenda, following reports that millions of French calls have been monitored.
Mr Barnier, the commissioner for internal market and services, said Europe must not be naive but develop its own strategic digital tools, such as a "European data cloud" independent of American oversight.
The digital economy is on the official summit agenda for Thursday evening ( tonight) .
Read more: BBC News - Focus on growth on eve of EU summit
10/12/13
European Economy: 'The crisis has taken root at every level'
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| Homeless Europeans |
Annitta Underlin is the Director for Europe with IFRC (the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent societies). Her section combines 52 national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies. In a report called 'Think differently,' published on Thursday (10.10.2013), they warn that Europe's response to the economic crisis will push the continent into social and economic decline.
Read more of the interview: 'The crisis has taken root at every level' | Europe | DW.DE | 10.10.2013
9/26/13
Germany: Obama’s best friend in Europe - by Richard Deeg
Angela Merkel's victory means both policy continuity and institutional stasis for Europe. Her European policy of fiscal austerity and debt sharing on German terms will undoubtedly continue. Merkel's, and by extension Europe's, primary strategy now is to wait for economic growth to return and slowly ease the debt burden and unemployment crisis in southern Europe.
This is a scenario that now seems more likely than not, though continued global economic recovery is hardly assured. Moreover, any return to growth in Europe is likely to be slow, shallow and insufficient to dramatically improve the fiscal picture in the South.
Talk of fiscal and banking union will continue, but unless there is a renewal of the euro crisis - or more likely a political crisis arising from the pain of austerity - there will be only modest reforms on these fronts, particularly so long as Merkel is chancellor.
She has made it clear that she is not interested in grand institutional reforms, whether domestic or European. Indeed, her approach of muddling through - finding immediate fixes as problems appear - staved off the collapse of the euro while also enhancing her popularity at home. The lesson for Chancellor Merkel is surely to follow this same path going forward, and the expected coalition with the Social Democrats seems unlikely to change Berlin's basic European policy.
The problem for Europe is that Merkel's muddling through strategy will likely suffice for only a few more years (and that assumes growth will resume): The eurozone's deep structural and political problems will eventually need bolder reforms if it is to hold together in current form, and this seems unlikely to happen so long as Merkel remains Chancellor.
Like most Germans, most policymakers in Washington credit Merkel for steering Europe out of its crisis and therefore regard her as America's best friend in Europe. And Obama needs all the friends he can find right now since he is fighting on two fronts and cannot manage a third.
Read more: Obama’s best friend in Europe | World | DW.DE | 25.09.2013
This is a scenario that now seems more likely than not, though continued global economic recovery is hardly assured. Moreover, any return to growth in Europe is likely to be slow, shallow and insufficient to dramatically improve the fiscal picture in the South.
Talk of fiscal and banking union will continue, but unless there is a renewal of the euro crisis - or more likely a political crisis arising from the pain of austerity - there will be only modest reforms on these fronts, particularly so long as Merkel is chancellor.
She has made it clear that she is not interested in grand institutional reforms, whether domestic or European. Indeed, her approach of muddling through - finding immediate fixes as problems appear - staved off the collapse of the euro while also enhancing her popularity at home. The lesson for Chancellor Merkel is surely to follow this same path going forward, and the expected coalition with the Social Democrats seems unlikely to change Berlin's basic European policy.
The problem for Europe is that Merkel's muddling through strategy will likely suffice for only a few more years (and that assumes growth will resume): The eurozone's deep structural and political problems will eventually need bolder reforms if it is to hold together in current form, and this seems unlikely to happen so long as Merkel remains Chancellor.
Like most Germans, most policymakers in Washington credit Merkel for steering Europe out of its crisis and therefore regard her as America's best friend in Europe. And Obama needs all the friends he can find right now since he is fighting on two fronts and cannot manage a third.
Read more: Obama’s best friend in Europe | World | DW.DE | 25.09.2013
7/20/13
Europe's Economy Will Rebound - by Jonathan Bucks
After almost six years of crisis induced by governments' overreliance on borrowings -- and a near-death experience for the euro—economic indicators suggest that, finally, the worst is over.
The European Commission, the European Union's executive body, expects the 27-nation EU to emerge from recession in the fourth quarter of this year, with economic expansion accelerating to a 1.4% growth rate in 2014. The euro zone, comprising the 17 countries that use the common currency, is projected to expand by 1.2%.
Prevailing conditions for a recovery, from an easy-money monetary policy to a scaling back of austerity measures, bode well. The euro-zone purchasing managers' index hit a 16-month high of 48.8 in June (a reading above 50 signals expansion), with improvement in Ireland, stability in Spain, and diminished declines in France, Italy, and the Netherlands. Business confidence in Germany improved in May, and consumer confidence in Italy reached its highest level in more than a year. Retail sales in the United Kingdom jumped 0.9% in the second quarter.
Among western Europe's economies, Germany, the U.K., and Ireland are expected to enjoy the strongest gains in 2014. Germany's gross domestic product could climb 1.8%, considerably snappier than this year's expected uptick of 0.4%, while Britain's could expand by 1.7%, versus an estimated 0.6% this year. Ireland's much smaller economy could enjoy a 2.2% growth spurt in 2014, double this year's likely gain.
Even laggards such as Italy, Spain, and Portugal could shake off the yoke of recession in 2014, showing economic gains for the first time in several years. The Spanish economy, for one, could expand by 0.9% next year, a level that, while far from robust, represents substantial progress after two years of contraction.
Read more: Europe's Economy Will Rebound - Barrons.com
The European Commission, the European Union's executive body, expects the 27-nation EU to emerge from recession in the fourth quarter of this year, with economic expansion accelerating to a 1.4% growth rate in 2014. The euro zone, comprising the 17 countries that use the common currency, is projected to expand by 1.2%.
Prevailing conditions for a recovery, from an easy-money monetary policy to a scaling back of austerity measures, bode well. The euro-zone purchasing managers' index hit a 16-month high of 48.8 in June (a reading above 50 signals expansion), with improvement in Ireland, stability in Spain, and diminished declines in France, Italy, and the Netherlands. Business confidence in Germany improved in May, and consumer confidence in Italy reached its highest level in more than a year. Retail sales in the United Kingdom jumped 0.9% in the second quarter.
Among western Europe's economies, Germany, the U.K., and Ireland are expected to enjoy the strongest gains in 2014. Germany's gross domestic product could climb 1.8%, considerably snappier than this year's expected uptick of 0.4%, while Britain's could expand by 1.7%, versus an estimated 0.6% this year. Ireland's much smaller economy could enjoy a 2.2% growth spurt in 2014, double this year's likely gain.
Even laggards such as Italy, Spain, and Portugal could shake off the yoke of recession in 2014, showing economic gains for the first time in several years. The Spanish economy, for one, could expand by 0.9% next year, a level that, while far from robust, represents substantial progress after two years of contraction.
Read more: Europe's Economy Will Rebound - Barrons.com
Despite Negative Reports From Some US Based Financial Circles Europe's Economy better Off Longterm Than US
The British Guardian reports that there are special factors at work in the United States which make
cities more vulnerable to swings in their economic fortunes than those
in Europe, and special factors in Michigan
and Detroit that left the once-mighty automobile center peculiarly open
to decline.
The United States lets its cities sink or swim in a way inconceivable to Europeans. American cities fund their budgets from their own tax base, with only limited subventions from state or federal government. If that tax base shrinks, as it began to shrink in Detroit decades ago, they must borrow to maintain services and can dig themselves ultimately into a very deep debt pit.
British cities, by contrast, are constrained in what they can borrow and they receive support from central government on a basis which redistributes funding from richer to poorer communities. Some European countries, like Spain and Germany, are more like America.
Another difference is that the American middle class, and some businesses, have frequently been able to escape the tax demands of big cities by moving out to legally separate, lightly taxed satellite communities while continuing to earn their living in the urban core. In Europe such escapees often find themselves recaptured by boundary adjustments.
So European cities are better insulated against trouble than American ones. A city's misfortunes will usually be softened by funds from better-off regions, while in the United States such help is both less and comes later.
Local councils in Britain, for example, are warning more and more insistently that cuts in funding are moving beyond just impairing services to the point where they could completely undermine them.
In Detroit, gentrification nibbles at the edges of desolation. There are economic new starts, and optimists are looking for a tipping point into revival. Yet there is another tipping point, the one that opens up again that terrible landscape of burnt-out cars, shuttered shops and deserted roads. Detroit is not a precedent, but it is a warning.
The euro zone had done good work,says the IMF for instance in starting a banking union. And yes, the commitment by the European Central Bank (ECB) to intervene in bond markets had restored some order.
Investors are getting the message: Fund flows into European equities have risen for three consecutive weeks, the longest streak of inflows since January, Bank of America Merrill Lynch reported on Friday.
EU-Digest
The United States lets its cities sink or swim in a way inconceivable to Europeans. American cities fund their budgets from their own tax base, with only limited subventions from state or federal government. If that tax base shrinks, as it began to shrink in Detroit decades ago, they must borrow to maintain services and can dig themselves ultimately into a very deep debt pit.
British cities, by contrast, are constrained in what they can borrow and they receive support from central government on a basis which redistributes funding from richer to poorer communities. Some European countries, like Spain and Germany, are more like America.
Another difference is that the American middle class, and some businesses, have frequently been able to escape the tax demands of big cities by moving out to legally separate, lightly taxed satellite communities while continuing to earn their living in the urban core. In Europe such escapees often find themselves recaptured by boundary adjustments.
So European cities are better insulated against trouble than American ones. A city's misfortunes will usually be softened by funds from better-off regions, while in the United States such help is both less and comes later.
Local councils in Britain, for example, are warning more and more insistently that cuts in funding are moving beyond just impairing services to the point where they could completely undermine them.
In Detroit, gentrification nibbles at the edges of desolation. There are economic new starts, and optimists are looking for a tipping point into revival. Yet there is another tipping point, the one that opens up again that terrible landscape of burnt-out cars, shuttered shops and deserted roads. Detroit is not a precedent, but it is a warning.
The euro zone had done good work,says the IMF for instance in starting a banking union. And yes, the commitment by the European Central Bank (ECB) to intervene in bond markets had restored some order.
Investors are getting the message: Fund flows into European equities have risen for three consecutive weeks, the longest streak of inflows since January, Bank of America Merrill Lynch reported on Friday.
EU-Digest
6/9/13
Europe’s Youth Unemployment Non-Problem - by Daniel Gros
European policymakers have decided that they must be seen to be “doing something” about youth unemployment. A special summit of Europe’s heads of state has been called, and a “Youth Employment Initiative,” proposed at the EU Council of Ministers’ meeting in February, aims to “reinforce and accelerate” measures that were recommended in a “Youth Employment Package” in December 2012.
his activism comes mainly in response to the latest alarming figures on youth unemployment in southern Europe, with sky-high rates of joblessness widely regarded as politically unacceptable. But there are several reasons to doubt that youth unemployment is a discrete problem meriting special treatment. Indeed, official youth unemployment statistics are misleading on two counts.
Read more: Europe’s Youth Unemployment Non-Problem by Daniel Gros - Project Syndicate
his activism comes mainly in response to the latest alarming figures on youth unemployment in southern Europe, with sky-high rates of joblessness widely regarded as politically unacceptable. But there are several reasons to doubt that youth unemployment is a discrete problem meriting special treatment. Indeed, official youth unemployment statistics are misleading on two counts.
Read more: Europe’s Youth Unemployment Non-Problem by Daniel Gros - Project Syndicate
8/22/12
Europe’s leaders face post-holiday blues (says US Media) - by Barry Hatton
US corporate media continues to hammer Europe as it reports:
"The latest economic figures show that Europe is edging closer to recession, dragged down by the crippling debt problems of the 17 countries that use the euro.
These debt troubles have tormented the eurozone for close to three years and have defied leaders’ efforts to fix them. And the longer they take to resolve, the bigger they get."
Leaders from France, Germany, and Greece meet later on this week in the latest round of shuttle diplomacy to attempt to put a lid on the eurozone’s debt crisis.
Six eurozone countries — Greece, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Portugal, and Malta — are in recession and others look feeble.
Europe’s stumbling economy is hurting recovery in other parts of the world. The European Union recorded a gross domestic product last year of $15.5 trillion — slightly more than the US output. It is also a major source of sales for the world’s leading companies. Any further economic problems would be felt in order books back in the United States and China.
Forty percent of McDonald’s global revenue comes from Europe — more than it generates in the United States. The company reported a 0.6 percent slump in meals served in Europe last month. Ford Motor Co. warned last week that auto industry sales in the region through July were the lowest in 17 years."
Note EU-Digest:" instead of blaming Europe for US economic woes the US corporate press and financial industry would do well to scrutinize their own economy which is in far worse shape than Europe. It also should not forget where all this economic mess started in the first place. This kind of concentrated negative reporting( Boston Globe, Wall Street Journal and others) is starting to look more and more like a conspiracy".
Read more: Europe’s leaders face post-holiday blues - Business - The Boston Globe
"The latest economic figures show that Europe is edging closer to recession, dragged down by the crippling debt problems of the 17 countries that use the euro.
These debt troubles have tormented the eurozone for close to three years and have defied leaders’ efforts to fix them. And the longer they take to resolve, the bigger they get."
Leaders from France, Germany, and Greece meet later on this week in the latest round of shuttle diplomacy to attempt to put a lid on the eurozone’s debt crisis.
Six eurozone countries — Greece, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Portugal, and Malta — are in recession and others look feeble.
Europe’s stumbling economy is hurting recovery in other parts of the world. The European Union recorded a gross domestic product last year of $15.5 trillion — slightly more than the US output. It is also a major source of sales for the world’s leading companies. Any further economic problems would be felt in order books back in the United States and China.
Forty percent of McDonald’s global revenue comes from Europe — more than it generates in the United States. The company reported a 0.6 percent slump in meals served in Europe last month. Ford Motor Co. warned last week that auto industry sales in the region through July were the lowest in 17 years."
Note EU-Digest:" instead of blaming Europe for US economic woes the US corporate press and financial industry would do well to scrutinize their own economy which is in far worse shape than Europe. It also should not forget where all this economic mess started in the first place. This kind of concentrated negative reporting( Boston Globe, Wall Street Journal and others) is starting to look more and more like a conspiracy".
Read more: Europe’s leaders face post-holiday blues - Business - The Boston Globe
3/2/12
Sarkozy: Europe Is Turning Page On Financial Crisis - by Gabriele Parussini
-French President Nicolas Sarkozy struck an upbeat tone Friday, saying the euro zone had found the path out of the financial crisis. Earlier Friday, 25 of the European Union's 27 leaders signed the region's new fiscal pact, which imposes stricter rules on deficits and debts.
"We're turning the page on the financial crisis," Sarkozy told a press conference after an EU summit in Brussels. "The strategy we've implemented is bearing fruit." Still, the fiscal accord will need to be complemented by measures to boost growth, Sarkozy added.
"The solution can't only be in budgetary discipline," he said. "It must be found in economic growth and [by] boosting competitiveness."
For more: UPDATE: Sarkozy: Europe Is Turning Page On Financial Crisis - WSJ.com
"We're turning the page on the financial crisis," Sarkozy told a press conference after an EU summit in Brussels. "The strategy we've implemented is bearing fruit." Still, the fiscal accord will need to be complemented by measures to boost growth, Sarkozy added.
"The solution can't only be in budgetary discipline," he said. "It must be found in economic growth and [by] boosting competitiveness."
For more: UPDATE: Sarkozy: Europe Is Turning Page On Financial Crisis - WSJ.com
1/20/12
Europe shares up for 5th week on economic optimism
European shares notched up a fifth straight week of gains, as the outlook for the global economy improved and on optimism Greece would avoid a messy default, though Novartis led a slight reversal on Friday amid doubts about a key drug.The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares fell 0.3 percent to a provisional close of 1,043.41 points. Over the week, the index rose 2.5 percent, its fifth straight week of gains.
Economic data has boosted investor confidence in the early part of 2012.
For more: -Europe shares up for 5th week on economic optimism | Reuters
8/8/11
UK government condemns London rioters as criminals - but are they right?
British government officials branded rioters who fought police, looted shops and set fire to buildings at the weekend as opportunistic criminals and said the violence, the worst in London for years, would not affect preparations for next summer's Olympic Games.
Police arrested more than 160 people across London in a weekend of mayhem that started in the multi-ethnic, lower-income neighborhood of Tottenham, only a few miles from the Olympic park that will welcome millions of visitors in less than a year. The riots come at a time of deepening gloom in Britain as the pain from economic stagnation is exacerbated by deep public spending cuts and tax rises aimed at eliminating a budget deficit that peaked at more than 10 percent of GDP.
The London police force has been criticized for its handling of recent large protests against the austerity measures, and its chief and the top counter-terrorism officer recently quit over revelations in the Rupert Murdoch News Corp phone-hacking scandal.
While Britain's politicians were quick to blame petty criminals for the violence, neighborhood residents said anger at high unemployment and cuts in public services, coupled with resentment of the police, played a significant role.
For more: UK government condemns London rioters as criminals - South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com
Police arrested more than 160 people across London in a weekend of mayhem that started in the multi-ethnic, lower-income neighborhood of Tottenham, only a few miles from the Olympic park that will welcome millions of visitors in less than a year. The riots come at a time of deepening gloom in Britain as the pain from economic stagnation is exacerbated by deep public spending cuts and tax rises aimed at eliminating a budget deficit that peaked at more than 10 percent of GDP.
The London police force has been criticized for its handling of recent large protests against the austerity measures, and its chief and the top counter-terrorism officer recently quit over revelations in the Rupert Murdoch News Corp phone-hacking scandal.
While Britain's politicians were quick to blame petty criminals for the violence, neighborhood residents said anger at high unemployment and cuts in public services, coupled with resentment of the police, played a significant role.
For more: UK government condemns London rioters as criminals - South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com
8/5/11
Stocks Plunge in US, Europe | Economy | English
US. stock market prices plunged in Thursday's trading, wiping out all the gains made so far this year. Investors were apparently worried about the debt crisis in Europe and reports suggesting that U.S. economic growth may not resume as quickly or as strongly as had been hoped.
In New York trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 513 points, or 4.3 percent. The S&P 500, which tracks large companies, was down 4.8 percent. And the many technology stocks in the NASDAQ were hurt even more, falling 5.1 percent.
For more Stocks Plunge in US, Europe | Economy | English
In New York trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 513 points, or 4.3 percent. The S&P 500, which tracks large companies, was down 4.8 percent. And the many technology stocks in the NASDAQ were hurt even more, falling 5.1 percent.
For more Stocks Plunge in US, Europe | Economy | English
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