I'm from Spain but I acknowledge you shouldn't count us on "Europe". Our government is plain incapable of handling an economic crisis and it's getting worse over time.
We're Africa.
EDIT: to add some more to my comment in case someone's interested.
Spain's just an olygarchy whose population is (purposely) undereducated about politics. Not long ago you could hear people saying "I don't care about politics!" but still complaining about the effects that political decisions brought to their lives.
I'm not trying to solely blame politicians: after all they've been massively voted in the last elections (People's Party got absolute majority!) although to be honest it was out of despair of uneducated population.
The current right-wing goverment acts as if they were following Hayek's advice but spending is being cut only in middle/low-class services. Their own salaries and benefits are still higher than ever, and preferential treatment to "frienly" corporations is daily news. Money's still not flowing, and medium/low-class smothering is getting it worse because most people spend money in surviving rather than buying products and reactivating the economy.
The previous "left"-wing goverment acted as if they were following Keynes' advice, but the best they could come up with was a plan for pavement replacement where most money went through the toilet. Everyone agreed on their inability to rule a country (even their own voters) which led us to current situation.
This is economic hell and NOBODY can save us.
I expect a hot climate this spring. I'm not sure what's going to happen, but something's going to happen again on the streets.
Not long ago you could hear people saying "I don't care about politics..." but still complaining about the effects that political decisions brought to their lives.
I'm not an economist, but based on my reading and (limited) understanding of the situation, the most likely outcome is the destruction of the Euro as a currency, or at least a vast shrinking of the currency zone. Devaluation would help many of the problems Spain, Greece, Cyprus, and others have. It has other well-known problems but the situation is one in which there are no good options.
Great blog post, although I meant less "economic illiteracy" and more "actively refusing politics" (though I guess they're related.)
> Devaluation would help many of the problems Spain, Greece, Cyprus, and others have.
That's true, but top-tier economies in the euro zone can't afford devaluation, that's why the European Commission imposes devaluation in wage and services.
What they fail to realize is that they're killing their own exports as they suffocate peripheral economies.
We're Africa.
EDIT: to add some more to my comment in case someone's interested.
Spain's just an olygarchy whose population is (purposely) undereducated about politics. Not long ago you could hear people saying "I don't care about politics!" but still complaining about the effects that political decisions brought to their lives.
I'm not trying to solely blame politicians: after all they've been massively voted in the last elections (People's Party got absolute majority!) although to be honest it was out of despair of uneducated population.
The current right-wing goverment acts as if they were following Hayek's advice but spending is being cut only in middle/low-class services. Their own salaries and benefits are still higher than ever, and preferential treatment to "frienly" corporations is daily news. Money's still not flowing, and medium/low-class smothering is getting it worse because most people spend money in surviving rather than buying products and reactivating the economy.
The previous "left"-wing goverment acted as if they were following Keynes' advice, but the best they could come up with was a plan for pavement replacement where most money went through the toilet. Everyone agreed on their inability to rule a country (even their own voters) which led us to current situation.
This is economic hell and NOBODY can save us.
I expect a hot climate this spring. I'm not sure what's going to happen, but something's going to happen again on the streets.