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Companies 4th May 2012

Amazon sets first logistics centre in Spain

MADRID | Fortune 500 company Amazon announced Friday plans to open its first logistics centre in Spain, seven months after the launch of Amazon.es, the Spanish version of the popular online store. The centre will be located in San Fernando de Henares, in Madrid. This is the latest opening within the existing European network of logistics sites of Amazon, which will become operational within a few months. “We are very pleased with the positive response from customers, as well as their interest in our Premium Amazon offer,” said Allan Lyall, deputy president of operations in Europe. Lyall hinted at…

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Spanish economy 4th May 2012

Slim talk about growth in Euroland

MADRID | Following German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s instructions, those supposedly at command in Euroland zealously repeat that growth and austerity are not in contradiction. Beware about such a slim talk. Their underlying message is that fiscal compact must be preserved at all costs, growth delivery amounting to a merely cosmetic make-up. Eurocrats are working out ways to sell through financial engineering the same money under a more “à la mode” disguise….

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World economy 3rd May 2012

Thursday’s graphs: Spanish energy consumption shows recovery

Energy consumption in Spain during the past four weeks brought gas demand back to positive figures and stopped further falls in electricity. Red Eléctrica and Enagás released electricity and gas demand data in April and analysts in the financial City of Madrid welcomed the better-than expected news. Electricity demand was slightly on the recovery path with a -0.9 percent and a -1.8 percent annually accumulated decrease. As for electricity generated…

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Spanish economy 1st May 2012

Sweeping U-turns undermine Madrid’s credibility

MADRID | No one expects incoming governments to keep promises entered while campaigning to cajole voters. But Rajoy’s performance does merit a place in the Guinness record book. Didn’t he adamantly bind himself never to facilitate lay-offs? Didn’t he commit himself never to increase taxes? People can understand he may break pledges when confronted with a dismal economic scenario. But they have good reasons to feel frustrated at the hectic way…

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Markets 19th March 2012

Goldmangate: too big for just an “I quit” op-ed

NEW YORK | Why has a letter in the New York Times sparked such a PR crisis for Goldman Sachs? In his ‘Why I am leaving Goldman Sachs’ article, Greg Smith, an executive director at the American investment bank, contended that the culture inside Goldman was “toxic” and that the bank routinely took advantage of its clients. This is powerful stuff, but the impact of the letter is way beyond just…

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World economy 27th February 2012

Billions of sterling pounds under the mattress

LONDON | The second estimate of GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2011 confirmed the forecast of a contraction of 0.2pc, according to the latest UK Statistical Bulletin. However, the breakdown showed positive contributions from household expenditure (following four consecutive quarterly falls) and from net trade, with negative contributions from inventories and business investment. The British government said this presents a more positive picture of the expenditure side of the economy…

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Spanish economy 24th January 2012

The rain in Spain is fairly plain

By Julia Pastor, in Madrid | The bank with the greater economic weight in the euro zone is Spanish, Spain’s national football team won the World Championship, and so did the national basket team; the number two in the tennis ranking is from Majorca, Spanish chefs are in the covers of the most important newspapers of the world, foreign tourists and no tourists adore the jamón ibérico… The history of…

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World economy 15th September 2011

Facing up responsibilities

NEW YORK- After months of protracted negotiations over the national debt ceiling that brought the US to the brink of default and given the fact that the economy is weakening, Americans are running out of patience with political leaders, according to a Bloomberg National Poll released on Wednesday. 72 per cent say the country is on the wrong track. A majority says it will take at least six more years…