• Visitors can check out the Forum FAQ by clicking this link. You have to register before you can post: click the REGISTER link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. View our Forum Privacy Policy.
  • Want to receive the latest contracting news and advice straight to your inbox? Sign up to the ContractorUK newsletter here. Every sign up will also be entered into a draw to WIN £100 Amazon vouchers!

Spain’s Long Economic Nightmare Is Finally Over

Collapse
X
  •  
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Spain’s Long Economic Nightmare Is Finally Over

    Spain's economy grows three times as fast as the UK.


    "The Spanish government has raised its forecasts for economic growth this year and now expects the economy to grow by at least 3% in 2017"

    Where are all the EU doomsters?

    After nearly a decade of economic crisis, Spain is finally growing again, underscoring hopes that the eurozone has reached a healthier place.

    By PETER S. GOODMANJULY 28, 2017

    Patrons at a bar in Barcelona, a city where young professionals have arrived from around the world.
    MARTORELL, Spain — Inside a factory as cavernous as an airport terminal, half-built cars glide down the assembly line in a parade that never ends. Workers in coveralls sidle up on queue, attending to the meticulously timed tasks of turning steel into road-ready sedans.

    The bustling activity at the SEAT auto factory in this industrial town just west of Barcelona attests to the new reality coloring life in Spain. The economy is growing again, expanding at around 3 percent pace over the last year, producing goods for export, generating jobs and restoring a sense of normalcy to a nation that has been saturated in despair.

    This is good news not merely for Spain, but for Europe and the rest of the global economy.



    Workers on the line at the SEAT auto factory.
    For most of the last decade, Spain has suffered as an extreme example of the economic carnage that has assailed the 19 nations sharing the common European currency. Its astonishing levels of unemployment, which peaked at 26 percent, stood as a prominent marker of the desperation inflicted by the implosion of its real estate investment bubble, combined with the global financial crisis.

    Now, Spain’s economy has returned to its pre-crisis size, according to data released by the government on Friday. This seemingly puts the finish to one of the worst economic catastrophes to play out in Europe in the years since World War II. It suggests that the continent, still grappling with formidable, even existential challenges, has finally achieved recovery.

    The sense of revival is palpable along the Barcelona waterfront, where stevedores work the arms of giant cranes hoisting containers full of factory wares onto giant vessels bound for points across Europe and Asia. It infuses a crop of start-up companies filling up the forlorn office spaces in major Spanish cities, where the cost of living looks more reasonable than London or Paris. It permeates even the vineyards, where a crop of young entrepreneurs is capturing spoils by reimagining family businesses, exporting classic wines in new bottles.
    source: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/28/b...mployment.html
    "Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience". Mark Twain

    #2
    Instead, rules governing the euro forced Spain to limit spending, extending the agony. Spain’s newfound global competitiveness is in large part a function of how wages have remained depressed even as jobs have returned. In this telling, Spain’s resurgence is less cause for celebration than a grim reminder of how long it took.
    This is something isn't it... yes it is a grim reminder of how long it took. Getting into debt is easy, paying it off is another matter.

    Frighting thought.. the UK is still to seriously tackle spending let alone building an economy that can pay off debt. Brexit will only amplify the downturn when it happens.

    DOOM! Get out now! Save yourselves!
    "Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience". Mark Twain

    Comment


      #3
      Right:

      After nearly a decade of economic crisis
      Seize on the good. Ignore the bad.
      bloggoth

      If everything isn't black and white, I say, 'Why the hell not?'
      John Wayne (My guru, not to be confused with my beloved prophet Jeremy Clarkson)

      Comment


        #4
        You need to look further into these articles. Most are propaganda or misinformed.

        1. Quarter of Spains revenue is spent on servicing its debt. 105% GDP.
        2. Extremely high unemployment with an increase of the working poor. That's not great you know, when people are working to make sure they don't starve.
        3. To increase short term competitiveness labor wages have reduced.
        4. Private sector weakness.
        5. Weak education system.

        Growth has mainly been down to the almost free loans they get from the EU. Which is funny because most countries are borrowing cash at higher rates than Spain is getting it for then lending it to them via EU. Bit of a dodgy scheme.

        I hope Spain does improve, really do.

        You have to remember that there are a lot of self serving interests out there wanting to put a good spin on things in the EU, especially now when we are negotiating with them.

        It's like the Greek banks that had to show they had liquidity to receive bailouts, so they setup intermediate companies and ended up each lending to each other. Or often GDP is used to show how an economy is growing, but GDP is not very good for this. It's a percentage so the economy can actually produce less but the GDP go up.

        Comment


          #5
          Spanish unemployment is dropping like a stone

          I'm alright Jack

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by BlasterBates View Post
            Spanish unemployment is dropping like a stone

            Working poor and growth funded by cheap loans.

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by woohoo View Post
              Working poor and growth funded by cheap loans.
              Thank goodness that's not happening in the UK.
              "Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience". Mark Twain

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by scooterscot View Post
                Thank goodness that's not happening in the UK.
                It is, all the more reason for leaving the EU.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Spain will do even better after Brexit when they deport the 761,000 Brits living there sponging off the Spanish welfare state and taking the jobs of the Spaniards.
                  "A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves and traitors are not victims, but accomplices," George Orwell

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by Paddy View Post
                    Spain will do even better after Brexit when they deport the 761,000 Brits living there sponging off the Spanish welfare state and taking the jobs of the Spaniards.
                    Really?

                    Comment

                    Working...
                    X