austerity

World economy 16th March 2012

Rajoy’s government begins deleverage: 27 state companies to close down now

MADRID | A plan for the restructuring and rationalisation of public sector firms become official on Friday in Spain. The government describes it as the first step of many to achieve a public network of companies without duplicities. Some of the enterprises were founded with the aim of developing activities not yet covered by private initiative and that were of national interest, but their justification is nowadays unclear, official sources said. In…

In Europe 16th March 2012

Peter Temin: “Merkel acts like Chancellor Bruening in 1931”

By Gustavo Matías | Professor Emeritus at MIT, Peter Temin understands why German Chancellor Angela Merkel bullies everyone into austerity. But he disagrees. Temin believes too many, too deep budget cuts can prevent countries from paying their debts as it has already been the case in Greece. So Germany could destroy the euro and put the global economy under risk? Something similar happened in 1931, also because of Germany’s influence, and led…

Spanish economy 16th March 2012

Spain’s government has no time to be nice: cuts aren’t, but must be done

MADRID | Spanish Finance minister Luis de Guindos bears the unpleasant task of playing the wet blanket, being realistic, not promising anything but selling a future. His role is that of the victorious Caesars’ companion, who had to whisper in their ears: “remember you are mortal”. In the government and in front of the citizens, he is the one who spoils the fun. For that he needs a great deal of…

Spanish economy 15th March 2012

Austerity romance: two towns merge in Spain seeking savings breakthrough

MADRID | Cesuras and Oza agreed this week the first merger between towns in Spain. The villages will become one local authority in a decision that was pushed by the need of public spending rationalisation, and that is likely to trigger a municipal restructuring in the region of Galicia. In fact, the president of Galicia’s province of A Coruña, Diego Calvo, admitted there are at least nine other towns currently…

In Europe 13th March 2012

The joke is on you, Mr Juncker

Semiotics of those now popular images go little farther beyond a simple, unsubtle fact: Spain’s finance minister Luis de Guindos is certainly not familiar with the sort of humour the Eurogroup’s chief, Jean-Claude Juncker, displayed Monday when he took Guindos’ neck between his bare hands ahead of their meeting. The prime minister of Luxembourg would next time be best advised to gently pat his Spanish colleague’s back; after all, the whole…

In Europe 13th March 2012

Schroders: neither austerity, nor monetary expansion but a Marshall Plan

LONDON | Investment house Schroders brings in its latest ‘Economic and Strategy Viewpoint‘ the final word about austerity versus money printing. It is a conciliatory one. Well, sort of: chief economist Keith Wade and Europe economist Azad Zangana set the record seamless and believe each team is right, at least, about the other team: they all are wrong. On one hand, Wade and Zangana say they hold the “belief that…

Spanish economy 12th March 2012

Don’t blame Spain’s public sector payroll: it’s 6pc smaller than the EU average

Catalan economist Vicenç Navarro delivers view points whose argument sounds completely contrarian at this stage. While austerity may be debated over –at which degree should it be imposed and how quickly, so further spikes in sovereign debt can be avoided?–, the consensus bears little doubt: public investment must be dramatically lowered. It is the right medicine. But confronted with an increasingly stalled productivity and a disquieting unemployment rate, those of…

In Europe 9th March 2012

Mário Soares: Portugal and Spain must tell Mrs Merkel enough is enough

The Latin Bloc may be awakening, after all. The least it could be said about the Spanish government’s decision of bending the public deficit target bar Brussels and Berlin intend to impose, from a harsh 4.4pc to a softer 5.8pc, is that president Mariano Rajoy has enlivened with his move the not-just-austerity talk and the perhaps-Germany-is-wrong debate. In the Friday edition of the Spanish daily El País, former president and…

In Europe 9th March 2012

Nordkapp’s Pablo Díez: “devaluation would be swift, austerity is slow and painful”

By Julia Pastor and Tania Suarez, in Madrid | Pablo Díez, at Nordkapp’s asset management department argues that implementation of austerity as the only measure to sort the crisis out will bring social chaos in Europe. Yet, Díez is unsure about how right Spain’s president Mariano Rajoy is in rejecting the deficit target of 4.4% this year. Do you think it would have been ‘suicidal’ to commit Spain to Brussels’…

aggregation line 3rd March 2012

Weekend link fest

A curated selection of links we hope can enlighten us all; some come from our corner, some do from other corners of the net. And as always, our comment widgets are anxious to get your suggestions. Spain needs margin to meet deficit and no, it’s not a question Don’t force euro zone to meet deficit targets, says …FT! Google wants to fulfil your dreams Corporate governance is an olde concept Ok,…

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