BEIJING | By Iris Mir | China turns into a urban nation. A transformation that entails a dramatic achievement and a challenge without precedents in the world. As cities become better places to live they become more expensive too, to the extent that people can’t afford the luxury of inhabiting these mega-cities. Without a fairer model, which fosters job creation and an equal access to resources, urbanization risks  undermining the country’s transition towards domestic consumption.
After 45 months of S&P 500 rises
MADRID | By Javier Flores, analyst at Asinver |Â The question, of course, is how long it will take for the curve to head downwards. No expansion lasts for ever.
China faces social challenges, at last
BEIJING | In his last speech the outgoing Prime Minister, Wen Jiabao, acknowledged the social challenges China is dangerously facing. The new leadership will have to deal with local governments and State Owned Enterprises ready to defend their current status quo and likely to be sceptical about any form of reform.
Dennis Lockhart: “Amid deleveraging, the US can only grow by 2.5%”
MADRID | Dennis Lockhart, president of the Atlanta Federal Reserve: “Why couldn’t we grow by a higher rate? Because people still are in the middle of a deleveraging process, which makes it near impossible that consumption takes off again.”
China needs more than just exports
China’s economic miracle was possible thanks to three decades of cheap manufacturing and exports. Thousands of workers left their villages to become the cheap labour force of China’s southern cities. Now this is a thing of the past.
Why we need growth now
Public spending can be cut down particularly when there is growth and economy expands. One has only to look at the US’ GDP to learn a powerful lesson: austerity untimely implemented does more harm than good.
China’s growth: the glass half full or half empty?
China’s growth for 2012 was released by mid-January: an overall growth of a 7.8% with a slight increase of 0.1 points for the last quarter, topping a 7.9%. The widely expected figure was the lowest since 1999. But is this a negative or a positive sign?
China begins a new cycle
BEIJING | Great social and economic inequalities could jeopardise the plans of making of internal consumption the main engine of growth. The figures released before the end of the year warned of the growing gap between the rich and the poor.
How the Eurozone Crisis Shapes China’s Global Economic Strategy
Erik Lowe, THE FAIR OBSERVER. |Despite the relentless bad news concerning the Eurozone crisis, China remains confident that its economy is well prepared enough to withstand the worst effects. The current Euro crisis is strongly correlated with China’s economic stability and growth, with Europe being an important business partner and one of the main exporting [...]
China, alone in the dark
BEIJING | The world was confident about China. She was expected to be the engine of growth of the world economy. The remedy against the bitterness that surrounds Western markets. The fear of a hard landing is part of the subconscious of many experts but there is still confidence that the second world’s economy will manage [...]
