EL PAÍS

Trump’s unintentional gift: how the Fed’s erosion opens Latin America’s doors to the euro

Denisse López — Fri, 15 May 2026 09:10:22 +0000

Latin America is reducing its dependence on the dollar, and it is doing so (at least in part) as a reaction to the policies of Donald Trump’s second administration. The increasing politicization of the U.S. currency—from the use of tariffs and sanctions to tensions with the Federal Reserve—has led various governments in the region to seek more predictable alternatives for financing themselves in international markets. And the euro has emerged as the main option for dealing with institutional uncertainty in the United States.

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Fear of shortages is cracking the world’s dependence on oil

Denisse López — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 08:02:11 +0000

The global energy market is facing what economists call demand destruction, a persistent decline in oil consumption driven by sharp price increases and resource shortages. The International Energy Agency (IEA) already adjusted its forecasts this week, anticipating an imminent decline in oil consumption. In the current context, marked by the war in Iran and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, the agency estimates that demand could contract by 80,000 barrels per day this year — evidence of a structural adjustment driven by tight supply and high costs.

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Mariana Mazzucato, economist: ‘Trump is destroying all the progress made by previous US presidents’

Denisse López — Sat, 21 Jun 2025 04:00:00 +0000

In a world shaken by Donald Trump’s return to the White House and his renewed tariff crusade against half the planet, Italian-American economist Mariana Mazzucato keeps her focus on what really matters: industrial policy cannot be reduced to a battle over subsidies, taxes, or a defensive war of percentages. “What Trump is doing right now is not an industrial strategy; it is its destruction. He is destroying all the progress made by previous U.S. presidents,” she warns. Since January, the Republican leader has unleashed a new wave of tariffs that threatens to drag Europe and the rest of the world into a spiral of retaliation and protectionism — just as the European bloc tries to reclaim its own industrial vision.

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Extreme uncertainty sends tremors through central banks and multilateral organizations

Denisse López , Pablo Sempere — Fri, 18 Apr 2025 10:24:56 +0000

The ramping up of global trade tensions has ceased to be a peripheral concern and has become a central issue for the decision-making boards of central banks and multilateral organizations. What began as a threat by the Trump administration quickly turned into an escalation of levies between the U.S. and China that has led to a spiral that could well change the world order: a trade war with systemic effects, capable of altering capital flows, supply chains, and inflationary forecasts.

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Five charts that explain the US-China trade relationship

Denisse López , Javier Galán Caballero — Fri, 11 Apr 2025 13:14:08 +0000

U.S. President Donald Trump has granted the world a temporary reprieve by halting the implementation of the so-called “reciprocal tariffs” for 90 days. All countries have benefited from this measure, except China, with which he has escalated the trade war by imposing a total tariff of 145%.

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A global housing crisis is suffocating the middle class

Denisse López , Miguel Jiménez Cabeza — Sun, 29 Sep 2024 04:05:00 +0000

Housing access has become a critical issue worldwide, with cities that were once accessible reaching unsustainable price points. Solutions that have been proposed, like building more houses, capping rents, investing in subsidized housing and limiting the purchase of properties by foreigners have not stemmed the issue’s spread. Between 2015 and 2024, prices rose by 54% in the United States, 32% in China and by nearly 15% in the European Union (including by 26% in Spain), according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

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Aftermath of the tariff war: The possible end of the WTO, billion-dollar losses and poorer nations

Denisse López — Sat, 14 Sep 2024 04:00:00 +0000

“Winter is coming.” The phrase, which one might associate with the legendary television series Game of Thrones, figured more recently among the remarks of a Norwegian representative at a November 2019 meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Five years later, those words seem to resonate, albeit under different global circumstances. There has been a retreat from free trade and in its place, the world has been witness to a rise in protectionism that could end in the planet’s division into rival economic blocs. Preludes to that outcome can be seen in the tense relationship of the European Union with China, due to tariffs imposed by Brussels on electric cars manufactured by the Asian country. The situation has escalated to the point that Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez suggested this week that the European Commission reconsider its position on the issue in order to avoid “another trade war.”

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New middle class, hedonism and visa ease: The economic reasons behind the boom in global tourism

Denisse López — Sat, 06 Jul 2024 04:05:00 +0000

Madrid, Tokyo, Doha, the islands of Fiji — no world region will remain untrammeled by tourist footsteps in 2024. Just between January and March, 285 million people traveled to an international destination, 20% more than during last year’s first quarter, according to United Nations Tourism. Bottled-up demand thanks to the continuing Covid-19 pandemic, rise in airline connectivity and the recovery of Asian countries will contribute to a 2% rise in passenger numbers as compared to pre-pandemic figures, according to forecasts. Last year, tourism’s contribution to the global economy rose above $3.2 billion, equal to 3% of the global gross domestic product. That number will rise even higher in 2024 if things play out in accordance with expert predictions.

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From the United States to China: By 2030, these countries will top the global debt list

Denisse López — Thu, 18 Apr 2024 16:59:18 +0000

It’s a fact: in the coming years, countries will struggle to reduce their debt levels. Even as inflation stabilizes, governments worldwide must act promptly to maintain healthy public finances. The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) latest report warns that global debt will rise each year, reaching 99% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2029, driven by China and the United States. The debt of the world’s two largest economies will even surpass the historic peaks of the pandemic years. Meanwhile, international institutions like the IMF have repeatedly warned about the need for sustainable public spending.

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The recession that never was

Denisse López — Wed, 29 Nov 2023 19:29:22 +0000

The year is ending with a global economy that has provided more satisfaction than distress. Despite high interest rates, a strong labor market and GDP growth give Europe and the U.S. confidence they can bring down inflation and avoid a recession in 2024. It’s called “immaculate disinflation,” the economic buzzword introduced by the Financial Times in February 2022 to describe a scenario where inflation cools without causing a spike in unemployment.

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Bank bailouts in the US: Dealing with a Lehman-sized collapse without using taxpayers’ money

Denisse López — Fri, 05 May 2023 16:38:26 +0000

The United States is dealing with its worst banking crisis since 2008-2009. So far, the turmoil has seen three banks fail: Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), Signature Bank and First Republic. Between them, the three institutions accounted for assets totaling some $535 billion; Lehman Brothers held a similar amount when it went to the wall, making it the fourth largest financial entity in the country. Given the contagion experienced in the last financial crisis, the U.S. government had no option but to step in. However, unlike the bailouts witnessed 15 years ago, on this occasion authorities have been at pains not to see citizens pay the price of the banks’ mismanagement. As a result, the use of public money has been avoided and all deposits have been guaranteed.

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Why the price of grain is giving the world a break

Denisse López — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 11:06:14 +0000

In a respite for global agricultural production, grain prices have fallen sharply from their highs last year in the wake of the Russian attack on Ukraine. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)’s Cereal Price Index averaged 147.3 points in February, only two points higher than the same month in 2022, when war broke out in Ukraine and prices soared.

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