Economía
“Las empresas necesitan trabajar con ‘startups’ e innovar dentro de la compañía”
Gregor Gimmy, fundador de BMW Startup Garage, ha defendido en Mobile Talks la importancia de los emprendedores en el desarrollo de las grandes corporaciones
Vivendi quiere hacerse con el 30% de Mediaset
La compañía francesa, a pesar de la oposición del grupo de Berlusconi, pretende aumentar su poder en Mediaset
Oltra combatirá los retrasos en las subvenciones con préstamos del IVF
Las enormes perjuicios que provoca el retraso de la Generalitat en el pago de cierto tipo de subvenciones públicas, ha llegado a la vicepresidenta y consellera de Políticas Inclusivas, Mónica Oltra, a impulsar una línea de crédito del Instituto de Finanzas que servirá para adelantar el dinero público a entidades que gestionen centros de atención a discapacitados. Leer
La Seguridad Social saca otros 936 millones de la hucha de las pensiones
Retira dinero del mermado fondo de reserva para liquidar el IRPF de la nómina de diciembre y la paga extra
Japanese banks grapple with ultra-low interest rates
BANKS the world over are wrestling with low interest rates. Nowhere have they grappled for longer than in Japan. Although the Bank of Japan (BoJ) introduced negative rates only in January, almost 20 months after the European Central Bank, its rates have been ultra-low for years: they first hit zero in 1999. In its long battle against deflation, it pioneered “quantitative easing”—buying vast amounts of government bonds—which depresses longer-term rates and thus banks’ lending margins. Since September the BoJ has also aimed to keep the ten-year bond yield at around nought, while holding its deposit rate at -0.1%.
Banks have had some relief lately: since Donald Trump’s election in November, the yield curve has steepened slightly—and share prices have leapt—as American interest rates have risen and the yen has tumbled. But on December 20th the BoJ kept policy on hold.
For Japan’s biggest lenders, negative rates are “an irritant, not a catastrophe”, says Brian Waterhouse of CLSA, a broker. Every tenth of a percentage point below zero, he estimates, shaves 5% from the earnings of the three “megabanks”: Mitsubishi UFJ…Continue reading
What not to expect in 2017
IF 2016 was a year of shocks, what will the next 12 months bring? It is time for the annual tradition (dating all the way back to 2015) when this column tries to predict the surprises of the coming year.
By definition, a surprise is something the consensus does not expect. A regular survey of global fund managers by Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) points to what most people believe. Following the election of Donald Trump, investors are expecting above-trend economic growth, higher inflation and stronger profits. They have invested heavily in equities and have a much lower-than-normal exposure to bonds.
So it is not too difficult to see how the first surprise might play out. Expectations for the effectiveness of Mr Trump’s fiscal policies are extraordinarily high. But it takes time for such policies to be implemented, and they may be diluted by Congress along the way (especially on public spending). Indeed, it may well be that demography and sluggish productivity make it very hard to push economic growth up to the 3-4% hoped for by the new administration. Neither fiscal nor monetary stimulus has done much to lift Japan out of its torpor,…Continue reading