Five headlines in my Feedly page this
morning:-
- Spain's shadow economy is the largest in Western Europe.
- Spain's suicide rate is the highest in 8 years.
- One in three Spanish children lives in poverty.
- Spain's banks enjoy 2013 profit surge.
- January see the lowest number of car deaths
since 1960.
So, not all bad news then.
Of course, all these statements/claims are
related. In one way or another, they're all caused by the crisis of
the last 5 or 6 years. And, in the case of the banks, huge infusions
of taxpayer money to keep them, first, afloat and, then, profitable.
What an easy industry it must be to run.
The shadow ('submerged') economy is now said to be
around 26% of the total. As was easy to predict, a combination of
austerity and higher sales taxes lead to an increase in the
already-high number of people trying to evade the higher taxes.
Which is not terribly difficult in an economy in which much is
transacted in cash.
Talking of economies . . . Here's an interesting
article from Jeremy Warner on the impact on those of Southern Europe
of the euro straightjacket and the obligatory austerity. To say the
least, he's pessimistic about Spain and her colleagues. As is EU
commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, Olli Rehn, who
suspects "It will take 10 years to fix the Spanish crisis”.
Personally, I think he's being optimistic.
Reflecting the times and the culture, students at
the University of Málaga have created a website to monitor wasteful
ventures across Spain, called Despilfarro Público.
It's official . . . Here in Galicia, January saw
only one day on which it didn't rain. So, even worse than my first
January here in 2001. In the UK, though, it's been the wettest
January since records began, over 100 years ago. For a better
appreciation of Galicia, see the relevant video here.
Finally . . . Here's a helpful video for those of
us who are thinking of starting our own, profitable, religion. Is
there any other sort?
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