Spain, the Eurozone’s fourth largest economy, has been without a real government since October, when the campaign for a general election kicked off. After an inconclusive result, the country was left in political limbo. That status will change soon due to last week’s elections, which produced a clearer outcome. Without an effective government, Spain has been doing quite well: the economy has been growing at a faster pace (3.2% annualized) than before, well ahead of Germany, France, et al. Unemployment has been coming down at a faster rate than in neighboring countries (from 25% to 22%, and falling). The less that politicians meddle, the better society goes about its business. It helps that Mariano Rajoy’s center-right government, which engaged in limited reform, had the guts to get rid of industry- and sector-wide collective bargaining in favor of company-specific arrangements and thereby lower the colossal cost of firing....... Everywhere you look, Europe is teeming with hostility towards people in authority, resentment at globalization and capitalism (of the wrong kind), and fear of new technologies and globalization. It is astonishing that the voters pulled back at the last moment from giving Unidos Podemos a second place that might have made the leftist coalition unstoppable. It is up to their relieved adversaries to make sure that danger does not come back......To Read More....
Friday, July 1, 2016
Spain Defeats the Extreme-Left Populists
By Alvaro Vargas Llosa
Spain, the Eurozone’s fourth largest economy, has been without a real government since October, when the campaign for a general election kicked off. After an inconclusive result, the country was left in political limbo. That status will change soon due to last week’s elections, which produced a clearer outcome. Without an effective government, Spain has been doing quite well: the economy has been growing at a faster pace (3.2% annualized) than before, well ahead of Germany, France, et al. Unemployment has been coming down at a faster rate than in neighboring countries (from 25% to 22%, and falling). The less that politicians meddle, the better society goes about its business. It helps that Mariano Rajoy’s center-right government, which engaged in limited reform, had the guts to get rid of industry- and sector-wide collective bargaining in favor of company-specific arrangements and thereby lower the colossal cost of firing....... Everywhere you look, Europe is teeming with hostility towards people in authority, resentment at globalization and capitalism (of the wrong kind), and fear of new technologies and globalization. It is astonishing that the voters pulled back at the last moment from giving Unidos Podemos a second place that might have made the leftist coalition unstoppable. It is up to their relieved adversaries to make sure that danger does not come back......To Read More....
Spain, the Eurozone’s fourth largest economy, has been without a real government since October, when the campaign for a general election kicked off. After an inconclusive result, the country was left in political limbo. That status will change soon due to last week’s elections, which produced a clearer outcome. Without an effective government, Spain has been doing quite well: the economy has been growing at a faster pace (3.2% annualized) than before, well ahead of Germany, France, et al. Unemployment has been coming down at a faster rate than in neighboring countries (from 25% to 22%, and falling). The less that politicians meddle, the better society goes about its business. It helps that Mariano Rajoy’s center-right government, which engaged in limited reform, had the guts to get rid of industry- and sector-wide collective bargaining in favor of company-specific arrangements and thereby lower the colossal cost of firing....... Everywhere you look, Europe is teeming with hostility towards people in authority, resentment at globalization and capitalism (of the wrong kind), and fear of new technologies and globalization. It is astonishing that the voters pulled back at the last moment from giving Unidos Podemos a second place that might have made the leftist coalition unstoppable. It is up to their relieved adversaries to make sure that danger does not come back......To Read More....
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