Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.
Christopher Howse: A Pilgrim in Spain
Spain- Exams (oposiciones) are being held this week for nursing positions in Silleda here in Galicia. For 830 positions, there are almost 7,000 applicants.
- You'd think that with youth unemployment being so high here, there'd be no difficulty in finding all the beach lifeguards required. But, no. For some reason, Galicia is going to be 300 short this summer. Beats me.
- A couple more observations from Brett Heatherington:-
o What is it that [during the post-2008 Crisis years] saved this country from violence, riots and social disturbances on a grand scale? The family. The extended family, acting as helpers, carers and givers of money, love and as many kinds of assistance that you can think of. Without this blood-linked stability across Mediterranean Europe, things would surely have been even worse.
The UK and Brexit
- I wonder if the (rather triumphant) EU leaders really believe that either Mrs May's deal (if it happens) or the death of Brexit will be the end of the matter. I fear that President Macron is right; a 'defeated' Britain won't be a comfortable EU member and the issue will surely return, especially if the UK's status is anything like that of a 'vassal state'. There'll be either a renewed Brexit attempt or major reform of the EU in order to stop it. And your guess is as good as mine.
- Meanwhile, here's Richard North with his latest caustic overview of the farce and its endless supply of populist 'tosh' tossed to the mob. His post is entitled The End of Rationality. About which he's been complaining - to no effect - for 3 years. Poor man. A rational, sensible Brexiteer - with a long-term, flexible plan - driven almost insane by the ignorance and stupidity of his fellow travellers. Not to mention the inept Mrs May and her government.
- Even more depressing . . . Here's the Guardian's take on Nigel Farage. Almost certainly valid. It is too much to hope for assassination?
The Way of the World
- Does anyone sensible reject the view that today's model of capitalism needs to be revised? If so, reading the article below might be useful.
The USA
- Dear god: Mr Trump has made it plain that he wants a new deal with Tehran rather than a new war. No doubt the same is true for President Rouhani. Other voices in both Washington and Tehran, however, are spoiling for a fight. Events can be more powerful drivers of action than an individual’s wishes, even a president’s.
- Can it be true that: The mainstream media is finally realizing that Trump is a complete LOSER!
- Of course, I said years ago that mockery would be the best way to deal with Trump. Hence his new name here: Desperate Loser Fart. Or DLF. See here and here for supporting views. Which may, though, turn out to be optimistic, as reader Perry believes.
Spanish
- Word of the Day: Vigor
Finally . . .
- Life in Spain 1: Trying to read at lunchtime on Sunday, I was rather distracted by 6 or 7 boys playing in the nearby fountain and all screeching non-stop at the top of their little voices. True, I was not the only one to notice this; there were a couple of women turning round to look at them. With an indulgent smile on their faces. Bloody little princes!
- Life in Spain 2: My house is c. 35 years old. And it's one of 300 on this hillside which the 'People of the Mountains' claimed 5 years ago are illegal - along with the granite carvers' school behind me and a large private college below me. I don't believe these folk expect demolition but will be happy with cash compensation. The entry level court found for them but the Galician Supreme Court recently didn't. So now the case is going to the Spanish Supreme Court. Which could take a while. Needless to say, neither the lawyer I used nor the (compulsory) notary mentioned anything of this when I bought the house in 2000.
A retraction and apology to Correos. . . . The letter duly arrived on the promised day, yesterday. Now, the mystery is why FedEx set the hares running by advising my sister it wouldn't arrive until tomorrow. But we'll never get an answer to this.
THE ARTICLE
Why capitalism needs a reboot in this Gilded Age of the super-rich. Liam Halligan
Mark Twain’s 1873 novel The Gilded Age satirised the greed and corruption of late 19th century America. The book gave its name to an era characterised by monopolies, exploitation and, above all, corrupt links between political and business elites. Twain’s tale was ultimately about what happens when capitalism fails. It was a “gilded age” for the super-rich, who built themselves vast houses and enjoyed massive opulence, but pretty terrible for everyone else.
It strikes me much of the Western world is hurtling towards a new gilded age. Under a veneer of prosperity, rising wealth inequality and widespread financial insecurity mean “the system” itself is increasingly being called into question and in dire need of reform.
Doubts are being raised, more widely and loudly than at any time since the end of the Cold War, about the future of capitalism. With British youngsters struggling to attain living standards enjoyed by their parents, and after years of real-terms pay cuts, faith in market economics is slipping. Swathes of voters now view the UK not so much as capitalist, but corporatist or even “cronyist” – with good reason.
The wealthiest 10pc of UK adults own around half of Britain’s wealth, with the richest 1pc controlling no less than 15pc of all assets. While wealth inequality fell during the decade from 1995 to 2005, since 2008 it has risen, driven by falling home ownership, narrower pension provision and endless “quantitative easing” – which has pumped up the price of property and other assets, good if you own them, bad if you don’t.
There is a growing sense that “the system” is rigged Credit: Isabel Infantes/PA
Ten years on from the financial collapse, amid countless corporate scandals and spiralling inequality, there is a growing sense that “the system” is rigged. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall in the late Eighties, the spread of capitalism has enriched billions – with the share of the global population in extreme poverty plunging from two fifths in 1990 to under one tenth today.
But while inequality between countries has narrowed, inequality within countries, certainly the post-industrial West, has got worse That’s why, across much of the UK, stagnant living standards and escalating corporate profits are fuelling a sense that capitalism is skewed, with the benefits accruing to an elite few at the expense of the many.
Our natural sense of opportunity and fair play has meanwhile been reversed. A recent government study found “an increasingly stark social mobility postcode lottery across Britain”, with life chances increased bound to who your parents are and where you live. That’s why, for millions, Corbyn’s dangerous rhetoric about aggressive renationalisation, punitive taxation and class war holds appeal.
Every so often, capitalism goes wrong. Waves of bank failures in the early days of the Industrial Revolution resulted in the 1844 Bank Charter Act – which tamed the worst excesses of financial speculation. Horrendous working conditions led to progressively more effective Factories Acts throughout the 19th century, beginning a long process of improving employee safety which continues to this day.
The Great Depression, which followed the 1929 Wall Street Crash, gave birth to modern competition laws, protecting customers from exploitation by over-mighty companies. These changes took place because it was imperative that capitalism was modified to retain the broad public consent upon which it is built. On each occasion, capitalism was updated, modernised and rebooted.
A similar reboot is needed today. Eight out of 10 UK consumer markets – including telecoms, house building, banking and energy supply – are now dominated by a small number of large companies. That generates a range of negative consumers outcomes – including poor service, lower trust levels, “super-normal” profits and high prices.
UK competition policy is now far too influenced by supplier interests – just as it was during America’s “gilded age”. When powerful groups of companies are challenged for ripping off consumers, regulatory changes are typically made only to “industry standards” and “voluntary codes” – non-binding stipulations, often circumvented.
Our last Competition Act was in 1998, before Facebook and Google existed. Britain’s ever more concentrated economy, with big companies getting bigger, explains why, across many sectors, prices are rising, quality is falling, staff are paid less – or a combination of all three.
Since 1998, the turnover share of the UK’s 100 largest businesses has risen from 21pc to 28pc of all output. The average mark-up of big firms has risen from 20pc to 60pc. This problem will escalate as the tech-giants really get into their stride, spreading their tentacles from internet search and social media to retail, banking and beyond. The vastly inflated stock valuations of these firms indicate policymakers are expected to fail in any attempt they make to expose these new corporate behemoths to genuine competition.
Very few policymakers I know acknowledge or even understand the issues I’ve just described. One who does is Andrew Tyrie, the former Tory MP who is now chairman of the Competition and Markets Authority. Last week, Tyrie gave an important speech pointing to “fragile public confidence in the benefits of market competition”.
UK competition law currently “falls short of what consumers are entitled to expect”, he told the Social Market Foundation. Tyrie talked of “price discrimination against the vulnerable in energy, insurance and other essential services”.
He admitted what many of us know – that “vulnerable” extends beyond low income and old age to include “the time poor”.
All this helps explain why, over the last four years, the share of UK adults who think their economic prospects are getting worse has risen from 25pc to 43pc. Polls suggest more than half of us now think “business is bad for society”.
Our political, business and media elites are unhealthily intertwined. Such cosy relationships result in enfeebled competition policy, which harms smaller firms, consumers and broader society.
Every now and then, if capitalism is to survive, its supporters must overhaul the rules to tip the balance of power away from overbearing, all-powerful corporate lobbies and back towards ordinary people.
Today is such a time.
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