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Talking Point

In Talking Point we present our take on current affairs and developments in the worlds of business, financial markets and politics.

187 (71-80)
    
January 15, 2019

European banks: Operating struggles and some external headwinds

Region:
Europe
Talking Point
Topic:
Banking and financial markets
Analyst:
Jan Schildbach
Banks in Europe face a more difficult business environment in 2019 than last year. While the macro environment is still decent, momentum is cooling markedly. In addition, prominent political risks loom dangerously. On the operating side, banks are treading water. Their limited cost savings are being fully absorbed by declining revenues, and balance sheets continue to shrink despite a moderate pickup in lending. Profitability and capital levels are both stagnating. Only in a benign economic and political scenario will banks be able to return to growth this year. [more]
71
December 14, 2018

UN Climate Summit: The most inconvenient message remains unsaid

Region:
International
Talking Point
Topic:
Sectors and resources
Analyst:
Eric Heymann
Ahead of and during the UN Climate Summit at Katowice, the usual warnings were heard, saying that a reduction in global carbon emissions was urgently necessary. However, these political calls are much too vague. Instead, the most inconvenient message remains unsaid: The technologies which are available today and in the foreseeable future will, in all probability, prove insufficient to counteract climate change to the necessary extent and with the necessary speed and, at the same time, allow households to stick to their consumption patterns and continue with the well-established division of labour along international production chains. [more]
73
November 21, 2018

Air transport and tourism: more and more serious growing pains

Region:
International
Talking Point
Topic:
Sectors and resources
Analyst:
Eric Heymann, Marcel Stechert
Steady growth in air transport is leading to capacity bottlenecks, both in terms of available planes and at individual airports. Capacities will need to be increased, which means that more money must be earmarked for fixed-asset investments as well as labour and operating expenses. Taken together, the growing pains in the aviation sector and the rise in jet fuel prices may prove an overwhelming chal-lenge for some market participants. Air transport growth has also resulted in higher capacity utilisation in related sectors, such as tourism (the “overtourism” phenomenon comes to mind). There are, in fact, discussions about limiting or redirecting visitor flows. [more]
74
October 23, 2018

European banks: Shrinkage abounds

Region:
Europe
Talking Point
Topic:
Banking and financial markets
Analyst:
Jan Schildbach
The European banking industry remains in restructuring mode. Most institutions are focused on increasing profitability and returns to shareholders. In contrast to previous periods of rising net income, the key this time is exiting less attractive parts of their business rather than expanding across the board. Hence, most P&L and balance sheet components have declined year-over-year, with one major exception: profits. Capital levels have suffered from new, more conservative accounting rules on loan loss provisions. [more]
75
September 19, 2018

CO2 emission limit values for passenger cars: EU proposals overshoot the mark

Region:
Europe
Talking Point
Topic:
Sectors and resources
Analyst:
Eric Heymann
The European Parliament's Environment Committee agreed on setting stricter CO₂ emission limit values for new passenger cars. By 2030, CO₂ emissions shall be reduced by 45% compared with 2021. The targets overshoot the mark. Besides lacking economic efficiency, they are ineffective in terms of meeting the ecological goals. [more]
76
August 10, 2018

Drought-induced crop failures and inflation

Region:
Germany
Talking Point
Topic:
Macroeconomics
Analyst:
Stefan Schneider
The extraordinarily hot and dry summer weather will cause severe crop shortfalls in Germany, according to experts' estimates. Due to the adverse weather conditions, the crop outlook for European neighbouring countries, as well as other large food producers such as the USA or Australia, is quite poor, too. Over the past weeks, wheat prices for delivery in December 2018 were up by just under 20%. [more]
77
June 13, 2018

GDPR – boosting or choking Europe’s data economy?

Region:
Europe
Talking Point
Topic:
Digital, Economic and european policy
Analyst:
Kevin Koerner
Several aspects of the European data protection regulation GDPR could have far-reaching implications for competition in the EU’s data economy and the competitiveness of the bloc’s tech industry and AI startups. Data protection “made in Europe” could give European companies a competitive edge as users become increasingly privacy-aware. But GDPR could also end up rather strengthening the position of incumbent tech giants and throw the continent further behind the US and China in the emerging race for global AI dominance. If potential negative implications of the regulation for the EU’s data economy materialize, EU lawmakers should not hesitate to make adjustments accordingly. [more]
79
June 7, 2018

Understanding the blockchain revolution!

Region:
International
Talking Point
Topic:
Digital
Analyst:
Jochen Moebert
When reporting on bitcoin, blockchain and cryptocurrencies these days, the speaker is faced with the question: Shall he discuss the technology or move directly to the presentation of the social and economic implications? Conveying a complex technology in just a few minutes is risky. In Alice's rabbit burrow, the speaker and his audience quickly lose track of each other. But the audience may also be left clueless by the direct presentation of the potentially revolutionary implications. In the face of this dilemma and the complexity of cryptosystems, we will try to shed light on the issue by means of metaphors. We hope you will join us on our journey into the blockchain universe. [more]
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