Blog posts tagged by tag: Euro Area

• Sweden just formed a new government and approved its 2019 budget: what does it mean for the economy?

  For several months following last September’s general elections, Sweden had a taste of something relatively unheard of in its recent memory: political paralysis. The vote had seen a surge in support for the right-wing Sweden Democrats alongside a slump in seats for Sweden’s two largest parties, the Social Democrats and the Moderates. This robbed both the center-left and center-right political groupings of a parliamentary majority, hamstringing the formation of a government.

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  Tags: Euro Area

• Italy: The sick man of Europe

  Despite boasting the eighth-largest economy in the world, growth in Italy has stagnated for more than two decades. Economist Massimo Bassetti give us his six reasons for Italy’s weak economic growth over the last few decades:

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  Tags: Euro Area, Eurozone, Italy

• An in-depth look at the Eurozone’s booming economy and the challenges that lurk in the shadows

  Fresh off its best year of growth in over a decade, the outlook for the Eurozone economy appears brighter than ever. Unemployment is falling, confidence is sky-high and even the economies on the periphery are starting to show improvement. However, several challenges are still facing the bloc, including Brexit, divergences across labor markets and a lack of agreement on the next steps for the Union. Against this backdrop, we talked with Stephen Brown, European Economist at Capital Economics, about his view of the Eurozone economy.

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  Tags: Euro Area

• Is Spain doing enough to address its high youth unemployment rate?

  The situation for young people is becoming less bleak, but significant challenges remain

  When twenty-one-year-old Laura Avizanda graduated from a Spanish university with a degree in business last summer, she regarded the future with trepidation. Her reaction was understandable; Spain's labor market has been an extremely hostile environment for young people in recent years.

  But Laura was pleasantly surprised at how quickly she found employment related to her studies. "I started looking in early September," she says. "By mid-September, I’d found a job." Her classmates have had similar experiences, she adds.

  The economic situation of Spain's young people is gradually improving, as the economy continues to recover from one of the worst crises in recent history. Firms are hiring again. Youth unemployment, while still painfully high, has dropped from its 2013 peak of over 50%. The number of young people emigrating is slowly dwindling.   

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  Tags: Euro Area, Unemployment rate

• The Mercosur-EU Free Trade Agreement: Obstacles & Opportunities

  The likelihood of a free trade agreement (FTA) between Mercosur and the European Union (EU) is growing. In the most recent round of negotiations held in Brasilia earlier this month, the leaders of both blocs made it clear that they are willing to move towards signing the treaty. Recent advances come within the context of growing protectionism in the United States. While prospects that the treaty will be signed are bright, we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves. The leaders of both blocs have been negotiating for over 10 years and there are still important obstacles to be overcome.

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  Tags: Euro Area, Latin America

• Holland’s fragile one-seat majority government targets economic growth at the expense of fiscal sustainability

  On 26 October, 225 days since the inconclusive elections in March, a new government was finally installed by King Willem-Alexander. Incumbent Prime Minister Mark Rutte was sworn in for another term, as his People’s Party of Freedom and Democracy (VVD) joined forces with the center-right Christian Democrats (CDA), the social-liberal Democrats ’66 (D’66) and the conservative Christion Union (CU). After the longest process of government formation in Dutch history, these four parties reached a deal on 10 October to form a fragile one-seat majority; the political scene in the Netherlands had been fragmented as a result of the March elections. The coalition agreement contains major reforms to the income tax system, labor market and mortgage interest rate deductions.

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  Tags: Euro Area

• Spain-Catalonia: 7 economic experts weigh in on how the situation will affect the outlook

  On 26 October, President of Catalonia Carles Puigdemont put the decision of independence in the hands of the region's parliament. The move almost guarantees that the Spansh Senate will decide on 27 October to approve measures that will allow Spain to take complete control over the semi-autonomous region's government, as Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's conservative party holds a majority. How this all affects the economy of both the region and the country as a whole is uncertain, however, cracks have begun to show recently as the Spain-Catalonia situation has escalated.

  

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  Tags: Euro Area, European Union, Infographic, Spain

• The bulging economic costs of obesity

  It’s a Friday evening in Barcelona, and just as she has done for decades, Carmen Cano is making dinner. She prepares simple, rustic fare: chicken, rice and steamed vegetables. Unfortunately, this type of healthy-but-hearty dish is becoming ever more of a rarity here. 

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  Tags: Euro Area

• Spain in a global context: developed economy with some challenges

  Guest blog post by Neven Valev, Ph.D., Founder and Head of Research at www.theglobaleconomy.com.

  Comparing countries is a useful exercise as it puts the national economies in global context. Whether or not a country is developed in economic and financial terms is a question that makes sense only in relative terms. This article discusses the Spanish economy as an example of how to make such an international comparison. The focus is on four key areas: economic development, financial system development, rule of law, and international trade and investment. Spain is interesting as it is a large developed economy that does, however, face challenges.

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  Tags: Euro Area, Spain

• What economy will the new Dutch government inherit?

  Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s liberal VVD party has won again despite losing seats, keeping the far right in a largely ineffectual position. The Netherlands is one of Europe’s best performing economies, which surely helped see reason ultimately triumph over populism after a campaign dominated by much political noise from Geert Wilders’ anti-immigration party. And yet voters still punished the outgoing coalition heavily. Rutte’s party lost about a quarter of its support and its traditional coalition partner all but collapsed, with the Green-Left party making substantial gains to emerge as an unexpected victor of the night and a potential kingmaker in coalition negotiations. On the face of it the Dutch economy is doing remarkably well, yet voters were clearly not entirely happy with the political status quo. While the Liberals do battle behind the scenes to form a working majority in the fragmented Dutch parliament, we take a look at the economic situation that the new government will inherit.

  

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  Tags: Euro Area, European Union, Infographic

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