When European politicians use the concept of "merit" as a subset of
"democracy", most of us buy into that as we see it (at face value) an argument
for the best people in the respective political jobs. The "Meritocracy Party"
(yes there is one, but individual members remain anonymous) advocate a
meritocracy in which there aren't political parties, there's a 100% tax on
inheritance, to vote you must be qualified (i.e. have a Finance Degree to vote
on a Finance Minister), they want to do away with democracy and free market
capitalism. The "Meritocracy Party" bastardize the word 'Meritocracy' placing a
different meaning on the word to which the person in the street does. I have
come to realize that the Europrat believes in the meaning of this bastardized
use of "meritocracy". To the Europrat it doesn't really mean the best person
based on qualifications, talent and experience. To them it means a derivative of
communism. There are just too many similarities between what the Meritocracy
Party stands for and the behavior of the Europrat. I suspect many of these
Europrats are anonymous members of the Meritocracy Party. They argue for the
replacement of free market capitalism with what they call "social capitalism"..
It appears to me the Europrat is pushing for a kind of "social capitalism, which
no doubt will replace personal property rights.
"My take on this is simple….Bernanke thinks QE3 isn't going to help, so why
do it? He’s expecting nature to take its course. I'm sure he didn't tell the
Committee members that, but you know, he gets a bad press for nothing sometimes.
I think he knows that Europe is out of control, and he’s sure that American
politics will screw things up there too. He’s been consistent since last Spring
on giving warnings and expressing doubts. He’s one "helluva" good
barometer.”....the Fed is secretly printing money like crazy and throwing it at
Western Banks desperate to stay alive. Both the US & EU are fucked beyond
recognition. If they stop the money printing, the banks die and then so does
Western civilisation as we know it. If they continue against the back drop of a
growing powerful East and declining oil then energy costs skyrocket which also
destroys Western oil based economies. The game is over for the West. The elite
will then seek to save themselves as the masses start to panic. You want
evidence of this? Witness what happened the other week when the politicians
mentioned there may be a slight shortfall in fuel. What did the average idiot
do? Panic like crazy, fighting at petrol stations. One idiot burnt herself in
her own home. Welcome to a new world of chaos !!!!!
Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti is still whistling to keep his spirits up - he's announced his jobs market reform bill tonight, the most controversial of all his austerity and economic reform measures. He called the bill, which will go before parliament in the coming days, "historic" and said his aim was to end the "dualism" between well-protected employees in jobs and first-time applicants trying to break into the market, by making it easier to hire and fire staff. He said: This is a turning point for the labor market. Now he just has to persuade the unions, who hate the changes with a passion - Italy's largest union, Cgil, has pledged a general strike.
Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti is still whistling to keep his spirits up - he's announced his jobs market reform bill tonight, the most controversial of all his austerity and economic reform measures. He called the bill, which will go before parliament in the coming days, "historic" and said his aim was to end the "dualism" between well-protected employees in jobs and first-time applicants trying to break into the market, by making it easier to hire and fire staff. He said: This is a turning point for the labor market. Now he just has to persuade the unions, who hate the changes with a passion - Italy's largest union, Cgil, has pledged a general strike.
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Although politicians and central bankers have praised Madrid for passing tough austerity measures, global traders are concerned that the targets may be out of the government's reach. Bond yields have been rising steadily ever since Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy secured an agreement from Brussels to relax the country's deficit reduction targets for 2012 from 5.8pc of GDP to 5.3pc. Mr Rajoy, who at the time declared that it was a "sovereign decision made by Spain", nevertheless pledged to meet the 3pc of GDP deficit target by 2013.
The Spanish finance minister, Luis de Guindos, acknowledged that clinging on to market confidence was the most important factor for Madrid. He told Reuters: "The main negative effect, the main risk for the Spanish economy, is the perception that public accounts are not sustainable... The 5.3pc commitment is very important but the 3pc commitment is very, very important."
The EuroStoxx 600 fell 2.1pc, Spain's Ibex shed 2.1pc and Italy's MIB lost 2.4pc.
Meanwhile, the precarious state of Europe's banks last year was laid bare by the European Banking Authority, which said they would have had to have raised €242bn to achieve the capital ratios demanded by the new Basel III rules. The regulator said had the incoming rules been in place last June, Europe's top 48 banks would have fallen woefully short of 7pc assets required.
The solution for Spain is simple, and lies in the main problem it faces as a country. With youth unemployment so high, it is time to liberate the punative 'autonomo' status, or freelance status, and support the highly qualified youth with tax incentives to form start- ups on their own. Delayed sales tax, delayed income tax until after the first year of trading, tax breaks for the under 35's, and a self correcting commercial real estate market will allow the people to take the initiative and regenerate their own economy.
Unfortunately, like most governments everywhere, the current regime in Spain is part of the problem, not part of the solution, mostly because of learned behaviour, in this case post Franco ideals of conservatism and patronage, lack of trust in the young and a lack of brave politicians with imagination.
To be freelance in the UK, like I was for eleven years, simply required a Schedule D number, a reduced social security contribution, and no sales tax on my first 40,000 pounds of income. The rest was up to me.
Such a simple tax scheme would liberate the greatest natural resource the Spainish have, its highly qualified and talented youth, and allow the country to earn its way out of debt with pride.
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