Spanish unemployment hits record 5.64 million

[maxd]

BBC News - Spanish unemployment hits record 5.64 million

30% of all EU unemployed now reside in Spain. Not a good idea. On the bright side 30% of the economy is cash in hand so from this statistic probably 1.5 million have jobs.

[xabiachica]

Originally Posted by maxd

BBC News - Spanish unemployment hits record 5.64 million

30% of all EU unemployed now reside in Spain. Not a good idea.

I'm going to copy that to the 'Economic' sticky

[maxd]

I can't imagine the proportion of public finances going to prop up that. Absolutely insane amounts of money.

[xabiachica]

Originally Posted by maxd

I can't imagine the proportion of public finances going to prop up that. Absolutely insane amounts of money.

not sure I understand

a huge number of them won't be getting any state help

[maxd]

Originally Posted by xabiachica

not sure I understand

a huge number of them won't be getting any state help

2 years dole money and then you go to the social minimum, everyone is getting something.

[xabiachica]

Originally Posted by maxd

2 years dole money and then you go to the social minimum, everyone is getting something.

a maximum of 2 years dole - many get much less, I think you have to have worked for 6 years in order to qualify for 2 years paro - & they only get something if they were lucky enough to have had a contracted job

if you were self-employed I believe you get nothing

how much is the social minimum & how do you qualify?


I'd be interested to see a link

[maxd]

I am not expert apart from making several people in Madrid and Barcelona redundant. Leave this for someone else.

[mrypg9]

Originally Posted by maxd

I can't imagine the proportion of public finances going to prop up that. Absolutely insane amounts of money.

But as you seem to approve of the third of the economy being 'cash in hand' what do you expect?

If people are unemployed, do you expect them to live on air?

Spain is suffering from the busted flush of the construction bubble which itself could only have been made possible by the free movement of capital across EU member states which funded it.

This is what happens when your economy is based on such flimsy foundations. Construction booms, dot-com ephemera....not a sound footing for a healthy economy.

The way things are going politically in Europe, I foresee moves to seriously restrict if not close down some of the essential provisions of the Maastricht Treaty. Uniformity of business taxes, restrictions on foreign capital holdings, restrictions on mobility of labour, restrictions on free trade... The EU of ten years time will no way resemble today's EU.

Mass migration of people and capital will soon be viewed as the economically and socially damaging constructs that they indeed are. Manufacturing and useful production will take centre stage again.

Events in France, Holland, Belgium, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Hungary where anti-EU, anti-immigrant, anti-Euro political parties determine the stance or even stability of governments point the way to the future.

And has the Czech Republic got a stable government yet? I have never come across a more amateurish, venal and downright incompetent bunch of pretend politicians as in Prague.
Yet living is still comparatively cheap in the CR as in most former Soviet-bloc states so perhaps we should encourage would-be immigrants to Spain to head further East?

[mrypg9]

Originally Posted by maxd

I am not expert apart from making several people in Madrid and Barcelona redundant. Leave this for someone else.

I think we all know that!

As you consider yourself to be a capitalist (which we all are to a greater or lesser degree) you must be well aware that there must be purchasing power within any economy which enables people to spend beyond the essentials- food, shelter, heating and so on. Without this margin of disposable income, people survive on what is basically subsistence level.

So...even looking at your cut-price operation which works in conjunction with an equally low-margin cut-price airline sector....how do you expect to maintain let alone increase your customer volume in the next ten years? Your branch of your business started a mere four years ago, if I remember rightly, at a time when the destructive forces underlying our bubble economy hadn't worked through to the surface.

With unemployment rising in Europe, steep rises on the cards for aviation especially the budget airlines, huge debt burdens in nearly all EU states....if you have large numbers of people who either have no jobs or if they have jobs are afraid to spend what money they have because of future uncertainty...where is the 'spare money' to spend on the inessentials...the holidays, however cheap, the new car, the new furniture?

Ordinary working people are not going to put up with hardship when they themselves have played little or no role in creating the crisis which has caused the hardship.
Yes, there are people who are doing very nicely, thankyou...my son and his wife are a good example. Both working in finance, both very well-off. But they aren't in the market for anything 'cheap', whether cars or holidays. And they are not typical.

Successful capitalists take the long view. They invest their profits in their undertakings. They pay good salaries and wages and train their staff. They know that the demand side of the economy is vital to the success of their undertaking. They know that rising crime and civil unrest caused by unemployment is bad for business.

And then there are the Ponzis and Bernie Madoffs of this world....

I rest my case.

[maxd]

Mary you really do not understand our business model. We have huge fixed costs by renting buildings at market rates and then make a premium by renting it out nightly.

We will have been in business in Spain for 10 years come next March. Our business has been around since 99 in Europe. Our volume has been increasing year upon year.Contrary to what you say the short term rental business is experiencing a bit of a boom. People are fed up with pricey city hotels when they now know you can get 80m2, sleep more people with more privacy. This sector really is on fire now.

I know you are having a dig because you like a cyber fight, but your facts are pretty far from the truth.

You also seem to think that we shirk our responsibilities. You should see our monthly VAT bill/Social along with the 100k we paid out in serverance pay. We do more than enough to pay for the unemployed thanks. As well as keeping dozens of building owners happy through renting, all thorugh the books I might add.


I think you could be referring to me mentioning previously that I do not mind paying workmen cash in hand for private jobs. Yes, guilty as charged for a private job around my house, I could get a receipt for my business and claim it back anyway.

On the whole we are wealth creators and give vast amounts to society, so no lectures on contributing to society please. I am fed up with governments being in our pockets all the time.

As for people not travelling, people always take their holidays. You should see Prague today, an absolutely insane amount of people here. I think we are lucky in that respect, we offer more space for less money and in the current climate people need to look at the pennies.