While EU politicians over at Davos have been mulling over the possibilities of Turkey’s membership of the EU, Kofi Annan apparently has things much clearer. In a speech to the European parliament he bluntly told MPs that Europe needs migrants to ensure a prosperous future and that Europeans should stop using immigration as a scapegoat for their social problems.
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Davos, Switzerland – Lo?c Le Meur has some videos from a blogging panel at the 2004 World Economic Forum.
We Read Business Week, So You Don’t Have To
You can just skip to the good bits. (Free registration may be required, but it’s worth your while.)
Sounds a lot like what Edward’s been describing. Glad BW agrees.
If Europe can’t manage domestically driven growth, maybe China will. Or will American demand have to drive the world economy forever?
Have a look at the inside.
A Global Demographic Time Bomb
“A shocking report released at the World Economic Forum lays out how aging and falling populations could slam world growth”
Apparently there’s still life on the Old Continent.
Olivier Guichard has died
Olivier Guichard, one of ‘the Last Barons of Gaullism’ has died. New York Times has an obituary.
Parmalat Update
Well, well, what do you know: Paramalat’s real debt is much bigger than was first thought. What a surprise. According to the Financial Times Parmalat’s gross debt now stands between ?14.5bn and ?14.8bn ($18.08bn-$18.46bn). At the same time its main Italian operations barely made a gross operating profit last year. Meantime Italy’s unions are threatening a strike iif the government reduces the regulatory role of the central bank. The dispute has arisen as a result of the Parmalat scandal, which the government blames partly on a failure of oversight at the central bank. As a solution the finance ministry wants to reform financial market regulation in Italy so that the central bank would no longer supervise corporate bond issuance and competition in Italy’s banking sector. The unions object to this.
Actually this was meant to be a quick post, but while writing it I cannot help reaching the conclusion that Italy may be begining to fall apart. Just wait till you read this.
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This Is One To Keep An Eye On
2003 was a good year for the Spanish banks, with interest rates at historic lows, lending boomed. News has it today that net profits at Santander Central Hispano, Spain’s largest bank, rose 29.6 per cent in the fourth quarter to ?681m ($857m) mainly on strong mortgage lending in Spain and growth in its consumer finance business in Germany and Portugal. Net profits totalled ?2.61bn for the full year, a 16 per cent increase over 2002 and the best year on record, while credit inside Spain was up 16.2 per cent as the housing boom continued on its relentless path hence generating strong demand for mortgages.
So good luck to the bank, and that’s it. Well again, not exactly. Why is there a boom in consumer credit and mortgage lending right now in Spain? That really should be the question.
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We’d like to thank the Academy
We were happy when AFOE was nominated for a Koufax Award, so we’re even happier to learn that we’re in the final seven for Best Group Blog. Thanks to everyone who’s nominated or voted for us and we hope to live up to your expectations over the next year!
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Today, the NY Times features a review of recent books on the Bush administrations’ foreign policy.
A grave matter
Austere but elegant, and with fine views of an historic rococo church, this lovely building would make a fine weekend cottage. And you could be the lucky bidder when it comes under the hammer! There’s one thing you’ll want to have removed before settling in, though: the corpse of Franz Josef Strauss.
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Free Lunch!
What harm does running a European-style high-spending welfare state do to a country’s GDP? The answer, surprisingly, turns out to be “none at all”. Peter Lindert’s paper, “Why the Welfare State Looks Like A Free Lunch”, shows that a welfare state doesn’t depress GDP in the way that conventional economic analyses predict. Why not? Over to Lindert…
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