We suppose that some of our readers might have noticed how infrequently Ibex Salad resorts to press reports in order to prove whatever silly point it might be trying to make on a given day. The reason for this is that we don't actually read newspapers very often - because beyond simple stuff like exactly how many people died in a specific car accident at a given intersection on a certain day of the week, they are notoriously unreliable witnesses to the passing parade.So it was with some trepidation that we took up an invitation to visit, and exchange links with, a Spanish internet news source known as 'Qorreo'. We were pleasantly surprised. Written entirely in English by a team that has (or has had) something to do with the English edition of El País that gets tucked in to the International Herald Tribune, Qorreo provides readers with fairly complete - and well-written - background articles on issues currently commanding attention in the Spanish press.
Readers tired of being talked down to by the uniformly simplistic and monothematic (this one* has Tuesday's demonstrations 'shutting down' Spain's cities) Anglo press treatment of Spain could do worse than give Qorreo a look. Start with Andrew Eatwell's take on Zapatero's proposed pension reforms, for example - the real issue behind the manifestations.
*The Globe and Mail piece might have only been read by a few hundred suits flying the Montreal-Toronto route were the always gullible Yves Smith not to have typically picked it up for redistribution in the rant-o-sphere.
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12 Comments:
Thanks for this, Charles.
Blow wind blow
Blow all my troubles away-yay-yay-yay
Blow wind blow
Until judgment day
If I leave a comment, does it mean people click thru, or does it just mean I'm drunk?
Whilst it's true that increased life expectancy, falling birth rates, immigration and other demographic factors will require a major overhaul of the country's pension system in the coming years, I don't believe that these are the main reasons for the government's recent dramatic and rather panicky declarations. In fact I think it's a bit of a red herring.
In January 257,000 people stopped contributing to the Social Security fund. In today's non-Anglo-Saxon 'El Mundo', I read that there are only 17.4m people affiliated to the SS and that the combined total of those on pensions and unemployment benefit was 14m plus. The main reason the pension system is in such danger is because the economy is completely jodido.
Andrew Eatwell got to the roots of the problem at the end of his article:
"he(Zapatero)will have to get to grips with the deeper causes of why the pension system is at risk and why so many young people are out of work. That will mean reforming the labour market and doing away with the peculiarities of a dual contract system that restricts worker mobility, reduces job security for many employees in the primes of their lives (hence lowering the birth rate) and encourages employers to use early retirement as a means to get rid of costly, older workers on fixed contracts (hence overburdening the pension system)."
Thanks, Chris.
Chris,
Yes, the whole thing is a little odd. I tend to think that the unions feel a little left out by the crisis - seeing as most of their membership is unaffected by it. The government's been kind enough to return them a bit of protagonism without actually dealing with anything. Good deal all round.
would the pension system be in such danger were that 20% black-market share of GDP paying the taxes it should, ITFP?
Are private plans that vanish with stock market crashes an alternative?
Or, must each one of us fund our own parents' retirement, and send the elderly with no offspring to another galaxy?
Anon 9:06 -
That's the union's argument. But it won't happen unless the grand part of the distinction between temporary and permanent contracts disappears. As it stands, it is guaranteed that a huge number of workers will always be in the underground economy.
The argument doesn't care if it is the Unions' favorite or not. Do you?
Good point, but frivolous. Now go spend some time thinking about the rest of the comment.
Re the rest of YOUR comment, I agree with it, even if it's a conservative's favourite ;-)
But regarding alternatives to fund retirement, the rest of MY comment is still unanswered.
Ok you're right. Those two won't work either.
guys, it´s been 2 weeks since the last update to IBEX Salad. Did you run out of commentary?
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