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Europe is facing not only a demanding economic situation, but also a trident of underlying challenges: the decarbonisation of the economy, the revitalisation of productivity and technological development, and the growing geopolitical fragmentation in the world. Addressing these challenges will not be possible without mobilising significant investment and financing, on the one hand, or without strengthening the international role of the euro, on the other. And this is precisely what the Capital Markets Union (CMU) is pursuing.

Increasing productivity growth is one of the major challenges that Europe faces. As stated in the introductory article of this Dossier, «Europe’s moment: it is time to bolster our competitiveness», it is urgent to update the productive fabric of Europe’s economy. Rapid technological change allows this. Moreover, the global context, which is increasingly competitive and with a growing distrust of multilateral institutions, makes it imperative.

We are facing a new year of strong economic emotions, so it is advisable to make the most of the Christmas break to take a respite.

In the coming years, the paths of interest rates and nominal GDP growth will create an environment in which it will not be so easy to regain fiscal space without a proactive effort by governments.

Spain's real estate sector is entering a more mature phase of the cycle characterised by a slowdown in growth in demand and prices. The factors supporting the property market boom (job creation, favourable financial conditions and high foreign demand) are still enjoying a positive trend but have eased slightly.

The AIReF has ruled that the pension spending rule agreed with the European Commission has not been violated, although it has pointed out that complying with this rule does not guarantee the sustainability of the pension system or that of the general government as a whole. Moreover, it has warned that it will be necessary to increase government transfers to the Social Security system in order to sustain it between now and 2050.

Prolonging working life, boosting productivity and attracting more immigration are three of the levers proposed by economists to mitigate the impact of ageing on public finances in general and, in particular, on pension spending.

We analyse the changes that have occurred in the flow of departures from the Spanish labour market in recent years, and the effect of the entry into force of the latest labour reform.

Generally speaking, when we use the word uncertainty we are referring to a lack of knowledge about a particular topic, or disagreement over how to interpret known facts. From an economic perspective, it makes measuring or predicting variables such as GDP or inflation more difficult. 

The vigorous recovery of the European economy after the pandemic has given way in recent years – in a more hostile geopolitical context – to a situation of weak growth. However, this is not the case across the board, neither geographically nor by sector. In particular, while countries such as Germany and Italy are showing significant apathy, the «European periphery» – so-named in a previous era – continues to show remarkable dynamism, led by Spain and Portugal. A similar contrast is found between the more erratic behaviour of the agricultural, manufacturing and construction sectors – with greater exposure to recent shocks – and the growing role in the economy of skilled services supported by favourable underlying trends such as the digital transformation.

Optimism surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) has been a key driver in the US stock market rally of recent months, helping the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq to record gains for the third consecutive year in 2025. Part of this expansion was explained by increased earnings, although the S&P 500 has recorded greater growth relative to these profits. In this rally, various analysts and investors have seen reminiscences of events from the year 2000 during the dot-com boom, sparking a debate about whether or not we are in a bubble. Although answering this question in real time is like trying to untie a Gordian knot by hand, in this article we analyse how the S&P 500 today compares with that of the dot-com bubble, and how feasible the expectations underpinning current stock market valuations are.

Between 2013 and 2019, the recovery that followed the financial and sovereign debt crises enabled gradual but sustained improvements in household purchasing power, supported by an improvement in employment and a contained inflation environment. The pandemic disrupted this dynamic, and while nominal income and the labour market showed resilience, the inflation shock exacerbated by the invasion of Ukraine eroded purchasing power and strained households’ well-being, hitting low-income households particularly hard. In this context, real actual individual consumption per capita – a broad indicator of material well-being that includes both private expenditure and individual goods and services provided by the public sector – allows us to analyse how the living conditions of European households have evolved before and after the pandemic, as well as the role of public redistribution.

The new expansionary cycle in Spain’s real estate sector is getting stronger quarter by quarter. House sales have been posting double-digit figures for the past three years, there is strong growth in construction and prices are clearly on the up. What will the future bring? As explained in this Report, this positive trend is expected to continue in the sector, both because of the Spanish economy’s good performance and also the healthy state of the industry itself.