Tag: Crisis

Oct 01

Will high oil prices permanently cap economic growth?

The answer to this question is positive, Jeff Rubin said to Bloomberg past week. “For most of the last century, cheap oil powered global economic growth. But in the last decade, the price of oil has quadrupled, and that shift will permanently shackle the growth potential of the world’s economies.” See also our recent posts …

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Sep 14

Germany’s halt to €5tn bank guarantee idea

An ambitious blueprint to guarantee the whole amount of deposits in eurozone banks have been stopped by German objections, Financial Times revealed today. EU officials agreed a eurozone banking union with regulation and control shifted to Brussels, and the guarantee over deposits was intended as a first move in that direction. In the first drafts …

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Sep 13

New bid for the Alcoa’s plant in Sardinia

KiteGen Research, an Italian company specialising in troposhperic wind generators has presented a bid to the Italian Government to acquire the plant being dismissed by Alcoa in Sardinia (the largest energy consumer in Italy). Their plan would partially convert the production and obtain 100% of the required energy for the operations from tropospheric wind, with …

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Sep 13

The German Constitutional Court’s “yes-but” answer to the ESM Treaty

The conditional approval of the ESM’s rules by Karlsruhe judges limits the secrecy of bailout agreements, in the name of the citizens’ right to be informed. It comes after 37.000 Germans signed the petitions against unlimited funding to ESM by Germany. The Court’s decision orders the two Chambers of the German Parliament be fully informed …

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Sep 12

Commodities markets: food price rush

In 2012 the price of soy grew over 30%, and this summer wheat and corn hit respectively +30% and +38%. In the last six months of 2010 alone, more than 44 million people were driven into extreme poverty as a result of rising food prices. At the same time, banks and financial investors are making …

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Sep 12

BBA warned banks on LIBOR-EURIBOR rate-rigging

The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) issued a warning to banks in April 2008 to “submit honest rates” to its Libor setting panel. One email, dated 21 May 2008, appears to show that Angela Knight, the chief executive of the BBA, was aware of the potential for banks to submit rates not reflecting the price at …

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Sep 11

Twist on Alcoa’s plant in Sardinia

Italian Ministry of Development Corrado Passera shows today an opening on negotiations to find alternative investors for the aluminium plants in Sardinia isle. After denying the Ministry received firm bids to buy the installations (here), he denies he “ever said it is a mission impossible” (here) and invites Glencore and Klesch (that put their bids in …

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