Spanish misfortune

The Spanish king of the second half of the 16th century, Philip II, said: “Spain is the place where I get my money.” This rule remains in effect. And unfortunate Spain will continue to be saved according to the “Greek” recipe.

When Spaniards, tormented by years of economic crisis, voted for the Spanish People's Party in the general parliamentary elections in November 2011, many hoped that things would not get worse. The party won and formed a government. In the lower house it won 186 of 350 seats. However, the country has not improved. According to the Spanish National Statistics Agency, industrial production in the country fell by 8.3% year on year in April. The decline has been going on continuously for 14 months. And if the deterioration stopped, one could say that the country is in a severe depression. But this “comforting” conclusion is far from being achieved.

The economic situation in Spain is getting worse, and the government has prepared new measures that should improve the situation. The previous cabinet announced cuts in public spending by more than 16 billion euros. However, the new government decided to go further. It adopted a resolution in December 2011 to cut budget expenditures by another 15 billion euros. New savings measures of 27.3 billion euros came into force in the spring. They assume a 16.9% cut in spending by the country's ministries. Civil servants' salaries will be frozen. The goal set by the authorities is simple - to achieve a reduction in the national budget deficit from 8.55% of GDP in 2011 to 5.3% of GDP at the end of the current year.

In April, Spain began a new offensive by economists on education and health care. In these areas, spending has been cut by 10 billion euros. In the same month, the Spaniards were “happy” with a 5% increase in prices for electricity and natural gas. The country plans to increase railway fares by 11%, as well as metro and bus fares - from 9 to 12%. At the same time, the authorities are not too concerned about solving problems such as the terrible shortage of jobs. Unemployment in Spain reaches 24–25%, which is about 5 million people. Among young people, 50% are unemployed. Recently, a powerful action of solidarity took place in Madrid with miners who have been on strike for two months.

The strike by Spanish miners began in response to the government's decision to cut public funding for coal production by 63%. This measure, classified by liberal economists as a set of “necessary solutions,” automatically leads to the closure of mines and the dismissal of tens of thousands of employees. All this will not improve the country’s economic statistics and will not increase the effective demand of the population. Among Spanish households, 22% are below the poverty line, and another 25% are near the poverty line. 1/3 of families cannot cover their monthly expenses. However, the authorities still view the money remaining with the population as the only source of “saving the country.” The unspoken credo of the elites is: debt and banks come first.

The government of Mariano Rajoy decided to increase VAT by 3% to 21%. Goods previously subject to a reduced tax (2%) will have a VAT of 8 to 10%. All this can be expected to increase costs for the average Spanish family by 600 euros per year. The People's Party government came up with new taxes. For 2013, the housing tax exemption will be abolished. Indirect taxes on energy and tobacco will increase. At the same time, they are going under the knife to cut unemployment benefits. In a country with a fantastic level of unemployment, this measure looks criminal. However, the government seems to have bought into the idea that Spaniards are working too little. A new insurance law is planned. It will provide for a reduction in pensions and an increase in the retirement age to 67 years.

In the public sphere, the Spanish authorities continue the policy of “austerity” with particular activity. No one seems to care that such a course only provokes a worsening of the economic situation. The Christmas benefit for civil servants is cancelled. In addition, a “restructuring” of public administration is planned to cut costs by 3.5 billion euros. Along with this, the ruling circles are planning to expand privatization. First of all, according to the plans, ports, airports and railway transport are subject to transfer into private hands. The general plan of officials is to save 65 billion in 2.5 years.

The Spanish misfortune lies not only in the destruction of the country's economy under the influence of the crisis. To this must be added the government's stringent austerity measures, which are making the situation worse. The huge liquidity problems of Spanish banks are just a product of the development of the crisis and the promotion of its work through “austerity”. And here – in the general picture – it is necessary to include the suffering of people. However, if the corporate elites of the European Union do not want to notice anything, trying only to squeeze more money out of the Spanish population to maintain international financial stability, this does not mean that everything will end well. New measures will only worsen the situation in Spain, and it cannot worsen indefinitely.

Sooner or later everything will collapse. The banking stability bubble will burst, and no one will say that the Spaniards could pay the banks more.

http://vz.ru/columns/2012/8/20/594183.html