2013 - Just Another New Year?

In recent years, I have used my January article to try to make some sense of the year that has just passed and to posit some suggestions – which of course stop short of being precise predictions that I may have cause to regret – for the 12 months ahead.

So where are we now? Demand throughout the economy is sluggish because the banks are not lending nearly enough; property prices in many European countries remain in the doldrums and the euro is in crisis. Hang on, that's pretty much what I wrote in January 2012 ... and 2011 ... and 2010. Well you get the picture. The reality is that five years into the downturn or crisis, not much seems to have changed.

In trying to make sense of the present economic situation, I thought it best to focus on areas that impact our lives here in Gibraltar. I have concentrated on growth rates in world economies and the continuing upheaval in Europe – especially how it impacts on the euro zone and the currency itself, the oft-criticised