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The conflict in the Middle East set the pace for financial markets in a month marked by very high uncertainty and as geopolitics continued to redefine the economic landscape.

We outline the five assumptions that must be met in order for the factors that are holding back economic growth to dissipate and for the outlook with which the year has begun to be confirmed.

The financial position of Spanish households has improved in aggregate terms: incomes have grown significantly, wealth continues to recover, indebtedness has decreased, and the financial burden is at a minimum. However, generational inequalities persist.

Dining out in Spain shows a clear pattern of concentration towards the end of the week, with a higher average spend, suggesting an increasing trend towards more social and discretionary consumption, with seasonal variations.

If you have read the newspapers this past month of August and have not felt a certain sense of discouragement, either your holiday destination was magical or you are a true optimist.

The strengthening of Spanish households’ finances has exceeded expectations and is good news for the Spanish economy, as the challenging context looks set to continue over the coming quarters.

Debates about inequality often focus on dispersion in wage levels and omit one very important aspect: inequality in wage income also depends on the «intensity» of employment, that is, on whether people are working at all and, if so, how frequently. Spain is a prime example, with a high rate of temporary employment (25.1% in Q2 2021) and a proliferation of ever-shorter labour contracts which has a marked impact on inequality.

The Chinese authorities seem willing to tolerate a slower pace of growth, prioritising economic security. What implications will this new macroeconomic environment have for China and what will be the ramifications globally?

After performing better than expected in the first half of 2023, global economic activity has experienced a slowdown in Q3 as a result of differing dynamics among the major economies. Below, we take a look at the outlook for the international economic environment.

The situation in the Spanish tourism sector has improved dramatically during the summer months, beating the forecasts of many companies in the sector.

In this two-part study, we look at how China has become the centre of gravity of Asian value chains in recent decades and how this has affected trade flows in the surrounding countries, and in particular those of ASEAN member states.

In this two-part study, we look at how China has become the centre of gravity of Asian value chains in recent decades and how this has affected trade flows in the surrounding countries, and in particular those of ASEAN member states.

The 20 economies that make up the Euro area have a single currency with a common monetary policy and, implicitly, a fixed exchange rate. However, in the last two years the region has suffered significant discrepancies in the inflation rates of its member countries. What is behind this dispersion?

We summarise the current situation and future outlook for the Spanish tourism sector, as set out in the Tourism Sector Report S1 2023, in this preview from the September edition of the CaixaBank Research Monthly Report.

All this suggests that we are unlikely to see another significant rebound in inflation in the coming months, and if this scenario materialises as anticipated, households will be able to continue to recover the purchasing power which they have lost in recent quarters.

In its battle against inflation, monetary policy has tightened considerably, as is clearly visible in official interest rates and those faced by businesses, households and governments. But these interest rates are not an end in themselves; rather, the ultimate goal is to cool economic activity and thus curb inflation. In this article, we have analysed the state of monetary policy transmission through one of its main channels: credit conditions.

Until not long ago, the financial markets had seemed to digest with relative ease the heavy dose of monetary tightening that the central banks have introduced to curb inflation. However, with interest rates increasingly entering restrictive territory – that is, at levels that should cool the economy – the risk of stress events and financial turbulence increases.