Just a month ago in the Bon Pastor neighborhood of Barcelona, two people were evacuated to Vall d'Hebron Hospital with gunshot wounds. A street argument in broad daylight ended with one person seriously injured and another slightly injured who was hit by a ricocheting bullet. Like them, up to 27 people have been injured by firearms in the first half of the year in Catalonia, just one less than in all of 2025. The same applies to firearm deaths: last year there were eight, and this year seven people have already lost their lives to a firearm. The Government attributes a large part of the proliferation of firearms to drug trafficking and calls for harsher penalties for their illicit possession and also for large marijuana plantations.

These days, news about shootings, organized gangs, and knives in the city of Barcelona are accumulating. I don't know if we are facing a change in trend or simply more media visibility. But they have all reminded me of an economist who received the Nobel Prize for formulating a surprising question: what if part of crime could be analyzed as an economic decision?Gary Becker revolutionized economics by applying his tools to areas that until then seemed reserved for psychology or sociology. He studied discrimination, family, education, and also crime. His approach was as simple as it was provocative: many people who commit crimes make, consciously or intuitively, a calculation between the expected benefits and costs of their future action.This cost depends on three factors. Firstly, on the benefit that the crime provides. Secondly, on the probability of being arrested and convicted. And, thirdly, on the severity of the penalty if punishment is ultimately imposed.Imagine a thief who expects to get a big haul and believes they have very little chance of being caught. Even if the penalties are high, the risk they perceive may continue to pay off for them. On the other hand, if they consider it very likely to end up before a judge, the incentive to commit a crime decreases considerably. From this perspective, police and judicial effectiveness can exert a deterrent effect as important as the toughening of penalties.Naturally, not all crimes respond to a rational calculation. There are impulsive aggressions, mental health problems, emotional violence, or behaviors difficult to explain through economic incentives. Becker never maintained the contrary. His theory refers above all to those crimes in which there is planning, organization, and an expectation of benefit: robberies, bank heists, store assaults…Therefore, when news about criminal gangs or organized crime appears, it is worth remembering this theory. The question is no longer just how many crimes are committed, but also what incentives those who commit them perceive. Do they consider the benefit to be worth the risk? Do they believe the probability of being caught is low? Do they perceive criminal consequences as a real cost?Economics does not replace law or criminology. It offers another way of observing the same phenomenon. And herein lies the value of Becker's contributions. More than half a century later, his theory continues to invite us to ask ourselves these questions because, if part of delinquency responds to incentives, rethinking these incentives can be the first step towards designing more effective policies.

The president of Pimec, Antoni Cañete, has called on Brussels for business regulation that is "simpler, more proportionate and adapted" for SMEs. The leader of the Catalan association of small and medium-sized enterprises met this Thursday with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and warned of the "bureaucratic overload" that the business fabric suffers from, which "hinders its competitiveness and growth".

Payment by large companies and administrations is not only not improving, but is getting worse. Last year, 85% of the largest companies exceeded the legal payment deadline between companies by seven days, reaching up to 67 days. And administrations more than doubled this, settling at 70 days, instead of the 30 established in the regulations, according to the Multisectorial Platform against Default (PMcM), which brings together one million companies and self-employed workers.

Spanish banking default rates fell below 3% in June for the first time since October 2008, according to data released by the Bank of Spain. The non-performing loan ratio stood at 2.97%, very similar to the 2.92% recorded in October 2008, when the economy peaked before the financial crisis.

Late payments aren't disappearing. Despite various regulations, the obligation to pay suppliers within a maximum of sixty days is not met by many companies, which have payment terms that can even exceed three hundred days. The Multisector Platform against Late Payment (PMcM), which claims to represent around one million SMEs and self-employed workers and is led by the Catalan employers' association Pimec, has once again warned about this and emphasizes that late payments are a "structural and widespread" problem in the Spanish business world. It is also a veritable "time bomb" that the European Commission wants to defuse through a regulation that includes reducing payment terms to thirty days, with caveats; an automatic sanctioning system; and the creation of national supervisory authorities. However, it has not yet been implemented.