{
  "id": 10848445,
  "title": "No es malo ahorrar",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/30/no-es-malo-ahorrar",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-30T03:40:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "El Pais Economia",
    "slug": "el-pais-economia",
    "url": "https://cincodias.elpais.com/opinion/2026-09-30/no-es-malo-ahorrar.html"
  },
  "original_language": "es",
  "account": "One of the major imbalances in Spain's economy for many years has been its reliance on foreign financing. Spain has been investing more than it saves, requiring the savings of others around the world. Following the financial crisis, this changed dramatically. For over a decade, Spain has generally had the capacity to finance its needs abroad. This change is sometimes interpreted negatively: Spain saves but lacks sufficient investment opportunities within the country, leading it to finance investments in other nations while some Spanish companies, especially young and innovative ones, struggle to secure financing. However, this conclusion is not necessarily valid. There are at least two reasons to interpret the situation very differently. Firstly, our starting point. Before the crisis, Spain had amassed a huge external debt position, with the net international investment position approaching a 100% negative percentage of GDP. Since then, an extraordinary correction has occurred, and in the second quarter of 2026, it stood at -40.7% of GDP. A part of our current financing capacity is therefore used to rebuild Spain's external balance sheet. This does not necessarily mean we are wiping out debt; we can improve our position by reducing foreign liabilities or accumulating assets abroad. Both approaches reduce the vulnerability that plagued the Spanish economy for too long. It is difficult to see this as a negative development. Secondly, it is perfectly rational for Spaniards to invest abroad. Consider a Spanish family with significant assets whose labor income depends on Spain, whose residence is in Spain, and whose future income may depend on the evolution of the Spanish economy. If they invested all their financial wealth in Spanish companies, banks, real estate, and public debt, they would be concentrating virtually all their risks in one country. One of the fundamental functions of financial markets is precisely to allow diversification. It is logical that a Spanish saver should have investments in the United States, Germany, France, Japan, or anywhere else in the world. That a large part of Spanish savings is invested abroad may simply be a good policy of patrimonial diversification. This also changes how we should approach the financing problem. We often implicitly assume that Spanish savings should finance Spanish investment. In truly integrated financial markets, the goal should be quite different: for the Spanish saver to build a globally diversified portfolio and for any good Spanish company to access global savings. There is no contradiction between these two goals. The relevant question is not why Spaniards invest abroad, but whether good Spanish business projects can obtain financing under competitive conditions, regardless of the investor's nationality. This distinction is especially important for Europe. It is continuously repeated that Europe saves a lot but invests little, and a significant portion of European savings ends up financing U.S. companies. This leads to the conclusion that we need to ensure \"European savings finance European investment.\" However, we must be careful with this idea. The objective of a Union of Savings and Investments should not be to ensure that European savings stay within Europe. A European citizen should be able to invest where they find the best combination of profitability and risk. Trying to retain savings within our borders could end up becoming a form of financial mercantilism. The European problem lies elsewhere: in the difficulties faced by some European companies, especially young, innovative, and high-risk ones, in accessing the financing they need. And here, the peculiar structure of European finance plays a role. Europe still relies much more on banking financing than the U.S., and has less developed venture capital, private equity, and other forms of risk financing. This matters because banking financing is very good at financing certain risks, but not all. Bank credit is especially well-suited to consolidated companies, relatively predictable cash flows, and assets that can serve as collateral. Young, innovative, and fast-growing companies often need something different: ready-to-take risk capital. That is why the European problem will not be resolved by trying to prevent our savings from leaving Europe or by seeking mechanisms to direct it.",
  "summary": "Lo que necesita Europa es crear un mercado capaz de financiar de forma competitiva sus mejores proyectos",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": "Spain's ability to finance its needs abroad and its citizens' tendency to invest globally reflect a strengthened economy and a rational approach to diversification, not a lack of investment opportunities.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}