Not so long ago, Spain was the superstar of the euro zone. Business, fueled by cheap credit, was booming. But the financial crisis decimated the country’s economy and now Prime Minister Zapatero is trying to pick up the pieces. He is hoping that ambitious reforms will stave off a downward spiral. By SPIEGEL staff.
The Party’s [...]

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China has emerged as Iran’s top economic partner, investing heavily in the energy sector and filling the gaps left by Western firms forced out by international sanctions.
In 2009, China became Iran’s premier trade partner, with bilateral trade worth 21.2 billion dollars against 14.4 billion dollars three years earlier.
China takes over from West as Iran’s main [...]

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Brazil is seen as an economic success story and its people revere President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva like a star. He is on a mission to turn the country into one of the world’s five biggest economies through reforms, giant infrastructure projects and by tapping vast oil reserves. But he faces hurdles.
Brazil’s President Lula: [...]

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THE price of a barrel oil went past $68 during the day on Monday June 1st, the highest level in seven months. Although this remains less than half the peak of last July, prices are likely to remain above the norm of the past few decades, lifted with every bit of cheery economic news and [...]

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RUSSIANS are hardly falling over themselves to watch Dmitry Medvedev’s weekly televised talks. Muscovites, it seems, would prefer a Hollywood movie. For one thing, Mr Medvedev has little positive to say. Oil prices have stabilised above $40 a barrel and Russia’s two main stock indices have rallied a little. But the torrent of grim economic [...]

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But, when you step back from the daily rash of economic news, you can see the current economic crisis is giving birth to a new perilous era. An era of protectionism, failed states and new wars. An era that has such diverse consequences as dealing a blow to Scottish nationalism, hampering al-Qaeda buying weapons and [...]

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On 9 December, Russia’s State Statistics Service revealed the GDP growth figures for the third quarter. And – lo and behold – they are “surprisingly bad”, “below market expectations”, etc. (Read the reports in The Moscow Times, Bloomberg and Reuters).
You might think that by now economists would no longer be surprised by the stream [...]

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