- This topic has 8 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 14 years, 4 months ago by
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Now that Spain’s unemployment has rocketed to 20%.
Surely this will further impact on Spanish property, maybe crime, and the general economy, add to that helping out with their share reputed to be 4.5 billion to bail out Greece initially, the future looks gloomy for the country.
Long queues at Spain’s Offices for Employment, few jobs to go round, holiday industry also suffering.
Will there be Civil unrest soon as in Greece?
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Figures even worse for Málaga province…over 30% 😯
http://www.diariosur.es/v/20100501/economia/tasa-paro-supera-malaga-20100501.html
One comment below the article says that despite having a University degree he has been unemployed for over a year. His benefit of 426 euro pm. has now run out.
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But how accurate are these figures?
There are so many individuals claiming benefit whilst being employed and paid cash. The employer is happy to be part of the fraud as it’s reduced employment costs for the buisness. It’s all part of the fabric of Mediterrean life! I imagine almost 100% of bars, restaurants, individually owned hotels etc in the resort areas do this and hence distort the real figure in a much greater way than industrial parts of Spain. But I also expect factory owners get up to much the same.
Oh well I guess the French and Germans just need to work a few more hours in their cold climate to fund the benefits and early retirements in the Sun for their Mediterrean friends, if the Spanish Goverment can’t aford it. Just like they are doing for there Ouzo drinking friends.
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“Unfortunately the average person in Greece, having lived for years on low wages, is now going to ‘pay’ dearly for the recklessness of their politicians.[/color]
So, whats the difference between Greece & UK. The average level of take have pay may be slightly higher in UK but than so is the cost of living. Its not only recklessness that you mention. There is corruption, nepotism, political/financial pressure from richer Countries and multi nationals that has been suffocating the societies.
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What is different about the UK?
Taken from the BBC website
“In the wealthy suburbs of Athens only 324 tax returns show ownership of a pool, satellite photos show 16,974 pools, one of many indicators of tax evasion, which costs the Greek government in the vicinity of 22 bn. Euro per year, more than half the annual deficit. …”
In the UK tax evasion and corruption are totally insignificant when compared to Greece. It’s estimated that 30% of real GDP is from the black market. You can’t pay for the modern services the country needs when so much of the needed revenue is never declared. That’s what different.
In simple terms the UK can raises taxes by a few percent (hardly a real hardship to UK tax payers) and receive a significant tax boost. Greece never receives the due tax in the first place!!
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@jp1 wrote:
“In the wealthy suburbs of Athens only 324 tax returns show ownership of a pool, satellite photos show 16,974 pools, one of many indicators of tax evasion, which costs the Greek government in the vicinity of 22 bn. Euro per year, more than half the annual deficit. …”
EXACTLY the point the demonstrators in the streets of Athens are making.
They don’t have pools or live in wealthy suburbs, nor evade taxes – they are taxed at source on their low-paid jobs. But they are the ones now being told to pull their belts in even further to pay for all this tax evasion.
This pool-owning lot definitely have a dose of the ‘Leona Helmsley syndrome’ – “only little people pay taxes”. And guess where the politicians live….and it’s not in a small 2-bed appt. in downtown Athens.
Many are angry about having to suffer the indignation of this rescue/bail-out and the interference/control that comes with it. They are a proud people and feel the politicians and elite in general have brought a (very public) humiliation on their nation. They would have preferred to have left the Euro than this.
Announced on the Greek news last night, public sector workers to expect pay cuts of between 15-30%. Also announced, another 10% rise in petrol, alchohol, cigarettes – the latter already went up 15% in price last month. Petrol had already gone up 20%.
Too much too quickly? -
Gosh, those tax rises are pretty extreme!
Clearly Greece has a huge problem, but I would think that such large jumps in taxation would be counter-productive. Presumably many will just consume less, so will the tax take really rise significantly? I would have thought that cutting expenditure, and dealing with tax evasion would be more productive than large tax hikes.
It will be interesting to see how this unfolds over the coming months.
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I feel that Greece’s membership of the eurozone is just unsustainable.
The Greek people are paying a very heavy price for their country’s past profligacy and in being constrained within the eurozone they will continue to pay this price for many years to come. I could well see a situation in the not too distant future when more people take to the streets to protest not about the cuts but about membership of the eurozone.
Although Spain doesn’t face the immediate problems of Greece I feel that its membership of eurozone is equally damaging. It has lost its competitiveness in the world and is strangled by the constraints of eurozone policies. I cannot begin to wonder what steps it can take to address the issues of mass unemployment working within the eurozone. Again there may come a time when the spanish people take to the streets demanding withdrawal from the euro.
I think something has to give at some point because pressure is building up in nearly all club med countries.
Richard
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