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Opening Up European Companies to a Global Vision

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Opening Up European Companies to a Global Vision

GIS,

5 min read
5 take-aways
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What's inside?

Banks are awash with cash, but precious little of it goes to where it can do some good.

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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Eye Opening
  • Overview

Recommendation

Promising businesses in many euro-zone countries can’t access the funding they require to grow and create wealth. Economics professor Enrico Colombatto asserts that big banks, regulators and governments have corralled the vast resources unleashed by the European Central Bank and used them to prop up banks and fund government spending rather than to support the real economy. While banks willingly deal with large cash-rich corporations, small companies with regional and even global potential are left out in the financial cold. getAbstract recommends this sobering assessment of the future of Europe’s small enterprises to bankers, policy makers, and, especially, small-business owners and entrepreneurs.

Summary

Despite several years of European Central Bank (ECB) monetary support, commercial banks have failed to fulfil their responsibility of lending to consumers and businesses that spur economic growth. In fact, loans to households and private enterprises shrank by more than 2% in 2013. Much of the ECB cash intended to prevent recession and boost liquidity stopped at the doors of banks and governments, falling short of the European Union’s consumers and producers. Banks have employed the funds to suggest they are viable, liquid...

About the Author

Enrico Colombatto is an economics professor at the University of Turin and director of the International Centre for Economic Research (ICER) in Turin and Prague.

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