Spanish (non)Government and The Spanish Economy: All is not well below the surface of the fine macro numbers of the moment. Here's a Moodys overview: Expect weakened growth
in Spain as political deadlock drags on: Spain's prolonged
political impasse will have a negative effect on the country's
economy. Sarah Carlson, Senior
VP at Moody's Investors Service, said that the
prolonged political impasse was "credit negative for the Spanish
sovereign" after Rajoy failed to
get enough parliamentary support to lead a new government in two
separate votes last week. Carlson warned that the economy
– which has staged a strong recovery since Europe's financial
crisis – would suffer from the deadlock. "The economic and
fiscal costs stemming from the ongoing leadership vacuum are rising
and Moody's expects both weakening growth and continued fiscal
underperformance heading into 2017."
Brexit: Early days, of course, but . . . As is now abundantly
clear, the immediate post referendum shock to the UK economy wasn’t
nearly as bad as many forecasters feared it might be. Thanks in part to a
sharp devaluation in the pound, even the manufacturing sector seems
to have weathered the storm in much better shape than generally
anticipated. The upshot is that
despite the turmoil of the last several months, it is now eminently
possible that Britain will show a higher rate of growth in the third quarter than the Eurozone. Few if any would have
predicted such an outcome. The economy sails on as if nothing
has happened, but the European one continues to stagnate. Both France and Italy showed no growth at all in the second
quarter, and now even the data from Germany is starting to look poor. That the Eurozone
economy is still struggling after everything that has been thrown at
it almost beggars belief.
Sister Teresa: You wouldn't get this impression from the world's media but she wasn't/isn't admired by everyone. Certainly not by the late Christopher Hitchens, as you can see here. And opinion is widely divided in my own atheist/Catholic/Jewish family. As you might expect.
Tile Design: Do you fancy yourself at this? Then this is for you.
Finally . . . Spain: A
Cynical Lexicon: I came across this morning on my computer. Don't
know who wrote it but have a suspicion or two. Not to be taken too seriously. Especially if you're Spanish:-
English
- A language you master the grammar of and then slaughter when you
speak it
Translation
- A task you give to a relative rather than pay a few hundred euros.
Zebra
crossing - Something you only use if there's a certainty
that any oncoming driver is not only looking at you but is also
within this braking distance.
Neighbours'
garage - Something to park in front of, blocking both ingress and
egress.
Roundabout/Circle
- A mechanism by which the maximum number of both domestic and,
especially, foreign drivers can be rendered confused. Or dead, even.
Family
member - Anyone from whom you think you can beg or borrow money
Friend
- Anyone you've met in a bar in the last 24 hours.
Commitment
- A promise to do something which you will do unless something better
comes along.
Stranger
- Someone who doesn't exist and, therefore, to whom you owe no duty
of care or consideration whatsoever.
Traffic
indicators - Lights for indicating that your car isn't really where
it appears to be and so can't be causing an offence.
TV:
- Something on which you can watch "Radio with pictures"
- A machine for creating noise in a bar, causing the customers to shout even louder than normal.
Fiesta - A reason for having yet another day off. Or possibly two or even three, depending on how close to a weekend the fiesta falls.
Rules
- Behaviour guidelines which apply to other people, in one degree or
another. See also 'Laws'.
Pavements/Sidewalks
- Strips of land for you to ride your bike on, preferably recklessly so that young kids are
endangered.
Noise
- Nothing to concern yourself with. Make as much as you like.
Children
- Little adults who are allowed to do whatever they like.
Personal
space - A concept unknown in Spain.
Parking
- The means by which you can scratch all four corners of your car.
Parking
bays - A rough indication of where you might park. Can be safely
ignored.
Conversation
- Talking both loudly and simultaneously.
THE GALLERY
For readers in the UK, here's what knives in a shop window looks like . . .
And, next door, religious artefacts . . .
Sorry, just read this and can't resist reproducing it:
Why did Johann Sebastian Bach have twenty kids?
He had no stops on his organ.
Like the multi-child mother who was so deaf she couldn't hear her husband coming . . .
Boom, boom.Thank-you and Goodnight.
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