World economy

No Picture

Free education? That only helps the rich

LONDON | After as many students as police officers on Wednesday ran through the British capital’s central postcodes complaining against tuition fees, we were left wondering that perhaps future and present university pupils aren’t exactly worried about the financial effort necessary to access higher education. The less than 4,000 protesters sought to convince the Liberal-Democrat and Conservative Coalition government led by David Cameron to reverse the trend of increasing costs…


No Picture

IAG signs a pre-agreement to buy Lufthansa’s UK subsidiary

As reported in El Mundo, the company resulting from the merger of British Airways and Iberia, IAG, has signed a preliminary agreement to buy the British subsidiary of Lufthansa BMI, the second largest airline at Heathrow airport, according to the company’s statement in the presentation of results, in which it earned €365 million up to September. If the deal goes through it will, says IAG’s chief executive Willie Walsh, “expand our…


No Picture

IAG signs a pre-agreement to buy Lufthansa's UK subsidiary

As reported in El Mundo, the company resulting from the merger of British Airways and Iberia, IAG, has signed a preliminary agreement to buy the British subsidiary of Lufthansa BMI, the second largest airline at Heathrow airport, according to the company’s statement in the presentation of results, in which it earned €365 million up to September. If the deal goes through it will, says IAG’s chief executive Willie Walsh, “expand our…


No Picture

Adjustment Time for core Europe

France and Germany, the two core economies in Europe, need a correction like the rest of the eurozone countries. The French prime Minister Françoise Fillon on Sunday announced the second adjustment plan in four months, “ the most rigorous since year 1945”, whose aim is to obtain between six to eight additional billion euros. On the other hand, Angela Merkel confirmed that the German will benefit from a tax cut…


No Picture

Europe scores a win in the Top 10 Prosperity Index, but not the euro

Six European nations have made their economic way into this year’s Top 10 Properity Index, a worldwide assessment of wealth and quality of life, although only two of them belong to the European Monetary Union. Out of 110 countries, Norway and Denmark lead the rankings, ahead of Germany (15) and France (18). The Legatum Prosperity Index provides the world’s only global assessment of national prosperity based on both private and public finance,…


No Picture

“45.5% of Greeks would vote in favor in the austerity referendum”

According to surveys that JP Morgan analysts have carried out for their investors, this is what the Greeks believe at this moment: Impact of Europe summit in Greece: 44% negative; 15% likely to be negative; 36% positive or probably positive. The agreement is a great loss of sovereignty for Greece: 49% Greece should stay within the Euro: 73% Greece should return to the Drachma: Less than 20% The agreement with Europe should be approved by: absolute majority…


No Picture

"45.5% of Greeks would vote in favor in the austerity referendum"

According to surveys that JP Morgan analysts have carried out for their investors, this is what the Greeks believe at this moment: Impact of Europe summit in Greece: 44% negative; 15% likely to be negative; 36% positive or probably positive. The agreement is a great loss of sovereignty for Greece: 49% Greece should stay within the Euro: 73% Greece should return to the Drachma: Less than 20% The agreement with Europe should be approved by: absolute majority…


No Picture

German bank Helaba ensures state help ahead of Basel III

The owners of German regional bank Helaba agreed this week to adapt their participation in profit, loss and any liquidation proceeds so the entity can comply with the future requirements of banking supervisory law Basel III. Landesbank Hessen-Thueringen (Helaba) is owned by the State of Hesse, the Free State of Thuringia and the Savings Banks and Giro Association Hesse-Thuringia (Sparkassen und Giroverband Hessen-Thueringen SGVHT). Following the accord, instead of a fixed…


No Picture

Técnicas Reunidas, from Hungary to… Australia?

Spanish firm Técnicas Reunidas has been selected as prime contractor of the Százhalombatta’s CCGT (combined cycle gas turbine) power plant by MOL and CEZ Group joint venture MOL-CEZ Hungary Ltd. European Power. The agreement has been valued at €455mn. This will expand Técnicas Reunidas’ experience, which has already been tested in the power generation sector having taken part in power plant projects with capacities over 40GW. Madrid’s financial city has welcomed the…


No Picture

De Jager: “Definitive summit? The Anglo-Saxon press made that up”

Passing on a clarifying (!?) note from Citi analysts… “The first comments, which anticipate a much discussed and possibly without clear conclusions summit in Europe today, were disappointing. Especially on two, at the moment, important issues: banking and the EFSF. Also, the markets themselves were disappointing. Gold has again gone up sharply ($ 1,714 an ounce) as well as raw materials (crude oil $ 111.35 per barrel). This rise is…