Sovereign debt bubble thread

[Admiral Yi]

Governments have a very limited range of policy choices to reduce unemployment, and none of them have proved particularly successful.  Make-work programs, tax breaks for new hires, and retraining programs.

[Iormlund]

You have to admit, if you stick with the current policies long enough, it is only a matter of time before unemployment stops going up.

Yes, once it gets up to 100% the only way is down.

[Zanza]

Governments have a very limited range of policy choices to reduce unemployment, and none of them have proved particularly successful.  Make-work programs, tax breaks for new hires, and retraining programs.

Can't be worse than the current situation.

[Iormlund]

What solutions are being proposed?

Within Spain, I mean.

Firing workers has been much cheaper for a year now.

[Admiral Yi]

Can't be worse than the current situation.

They all cost money.

[Zanza]

Can't be worse than the current situation.

They all cost money.

So? Can't have a higher cost to society than this unemployment.

[Iormlund]

Governments have a very limited range of policy choices to reduce unemployment ...

Not really. There are lots of things the government can do.

It could change regulations, encouraging owners to rent vacant flats thus promoting renting (and thus work mobility).
It could at least attempt to fix our disgraceful education system (privatizing universities, promoting on-the-job training ala Germany, increasing vocational school capacity and a long etcetera).
It could stop punishing entrepeneurs. Apple is allowed to post losses and record sales in the same exercise. Meanwhile, if I want to create a business I have to start paying taxes before I make a single sale. And let's not talk about how long it'll take to set up that business ...
It could promote R&D instead of killing it.
It could engage in actual diplomacy to set up saner policies in Brussels/Frankfurt.
Hell, it could even stop robbing us blind. Pretty much the entire government was receiving illegal donations from construction companies for at least 10-15 years. On top of innumerable scandals at regional or local level. Now wonder nobody wanted to kill the bubble.

And those are just a few off the top of my head.

Make-work programs, tax breaks for new hires, and retraining programs.

We've got all of the above.

[KRonn]

@KRonn: unemployment is at a record high in the EU this month, so it's getting worse.

Sad to hear that things are worsening after several years of stagnation already.

[Admiral Yi]

So? Can't have a higher cost to society than this unemployment.

So Spain doesn't have a pile of unused money sitting around.

[KRonn]

Wow, that's nasty unemployment in parts of, or most of Spain. How does Spain fare among other EU nations with unemployment? I assume Greece is worse but aside from that, are unemployment rates  getting better or worse overall in the EU?

No, I believe Spain's unemployment rate is the worst in all the EU by far. It has always been like that, our unemployment rates are atrocious since long before the crisis.

Ok, I'm a bit surprised. I wouldn't have thought of Spain as having the worst unemployment, and as such a longstanding type issue.

[crazy canuck]

And those are just a few off the top of my head.

You should run for office 

[Ed Anger]

I would invade Portugal, liquidate the eggplants and form midnight basketball leagues.

[Iormlund]

Spain has always had a uniquely high unemployment, although we also have a higher work force participation than some of our neighbors with technically lower unemployment figures (Italy I'm looking at you).

The elephant in the room is, however, the massive foreign-born population. We received maybe close to 10 million immigrants in a decade, most of those uneducated, looking for jobs in booming construction, elderly care and such.
Some of them are leaving now, but many are not. The woman who cleans my flat, for example, came from a tiny village in Romania. As bad as things are here, they are much worse at home.
There are indeed voices that point out that we have more foreigners than unemployed, but lacking a New Dawn, Lega Nord or FN, they are not politically relevant.

[Iormlund]

And those are just a few off the top of my head.

You should run for office 

Too late for that. You have to join one of the two parties as a teen and start to climb the ladder. A law degree helps. Friends or relatives in the loop help much more*. Actual work experience is strongly discouraged.





*It is amazing how many politicians from both parties are related to players in the dictatorship

[Crazy_Ivan80]

And those are just a few off the top of my head.

You should run for office 

Too late for that. You have to join one of the two parties as a teen and start to climb the ladder. A law degree helps. Friends or relatives in the loop help much more*. Actual work experience is strongly discouraged.





*It is amazing how many politicians from both parties are related to players in the dictatorship

heh, same story everywhere... though we got a whole bunch of newbs into the system during last elections. No wonder if you have a party that goes from a few percent to circa 25% in one election (communal this time)