Opinión

(*) Published on 15/1/2016 in Beyondbrics, FT Blog. The recent inclusion of the renminbi (RMB) in the IMF’s Special Drawing Rights (SDR) is a major victory for the People’s Bank of China, which for years has claimed that the Chinese currency deserves to be in the club of top reserve currencies. It is also a […]

(*) Published on 18/12/2015 in EPIN Newsletter Winter 2015. Spaniards are called on 20th December to decide whether the Government’s job over the last four years in overcoming the crisis was good enough to win again their support. Europe’s austerity framework was reflected in Spain in a series of unpopular measures in the shape of […]

(*) Published on 14/12/2015 in The World Post (The Huffington Post). Mauricio Macri, Argentina’s new president, was the candidate standing for Cambiemos, the broad center-left and center-right coalition that defeated Cristina Kirchner in the recent elections. What Macri defeated above all was an ugly, black and white approach to politics that rejected bipartisan solutions and […]

Published on 15/10/2015 in El País. Mini-jobs have become the main target for those who dislike the German economic model. Unfortunately, the criticism is usually based on a misunderstanding of the effects of the Hartz labor market reforms introduced in the 2000s. These are the points of criticism that are commonly raised: 1) the reforms […]

(*) Published on 2 October 2015 in Politico.eu. Catalan independentismo won last Sunday’s regional elections. But it lost the so-called plebiscite on secession. As a result, Catalonia now faces a difficult future with its society divided and the links with the rest of Spain deeply eroded. To understand the “Catalan question” it is important to […]

(*) Published on 23 July 2015 in EUROPP Blog – LSE. The Greek drama has just produced the greatest twist in the plot. Although his manners were teutonically rude, the German Minister of Finance Wolfgang Schäuble’s much criticised Grexit strategy has achieved something miraculous. Intentionally or not – only he knows – it killed the Grexit […]

(*) Published on 10/7/2015 in Politico. Updated and translated from original version in Spanish: Grecia: ¿torniquete y amputación?. A lot of Europeans, especially in Germany and other northern countries, appear to be steadily more unsympathetic towards Greece. Greece’s stubborn defiance is becoming tiresome. Grievances multiply, and have piled up for decades. Let us recount them […]

(*) Original version in Spanish: Cómo evitar la salida de Grecia. Published on 8/7/2015 in El País (In English). Also published in Berlin Journal Policy (9/7/2015), Handelsblatt (Global Edition) (10/7/2015) and Ekathimerini.com (10/7/2015). The scenario faced by both Greece and the EU after the ‘No’ vote triumphed in the Greek referendum is extremely complex. Few […]

(*) Published on 27/6/2015 in Politico. Greece is stuck in the past. It needs to look into the future. A couple of weeks ago I went for the first time to Athens. I tried to keep my eyes and ears open and talk to as many people as possible, both from the pro- and the […]