Category Archives: Sin categoría

Kleptocracy, value creation and the opportunity for Spain

Global Economy, On the cover, Sin categoría, Spain

This article was published in El Confidencial on January 19th 2013

“This threat of cronyism and patronage is not a threat. I think it’s a promise ” John Gage

“I do not worry if there are useless people in this organization, what worries me is if the useless are proactive.” This sentence comes from a senior executive with whom I had the pleasure of working for many years, and it encapsulates the biggest risk facing the ‘brand Spain’ after the recent embrace of optimism courtesy of the fall in sovereign risk premium. Now Spain faces its own acid test. Continue reading Kleptocracy, value creation and the opportunity for Spain →

The disastrous effect of subsidies in a few charts

Global Economy, On the cover, Sin categoría
De-industrialization in Europe is slow, painful but relentless. The main reason for this remains in the excessive cost of energy that destroys competitiveness. Why does this happen when there is plenty of spare capacity, diversification of supply and renewables are supposed to reduce the impact of high oil price and gas? Continue reading The disastrous effect of subsidies in a few charts →

Commodities Weekly

Energy, Global Economy, On the cover, Sin categoría

Outperformance of WTI vs. Brent continued this week as the spread between the two benchmarks narrowed further to $15.5/bbl.

The WTI benchmark is receiving support from the start-up of the expanded Seaway pipeline, with the market factoring in this recent expansion in takeaway capacity (150 thousand b/d to 400 thousand b/d) as a precursor for a reduction of surplus crude oil inventories at Cushing over the coming weeks. It is important to note however, that in the meantime crude stocks continue to climb to new record highs.

Continue reading Commodities Weekly →