megaspora » Economy

Spain’s fake unemployment rates

By: psr, 2008-09-07

The recent unemployment rate hike in Spain in the last month of August led the Minister of Labour to announce that Spain would end the recruitment of foreigners, to have jobs filled with Spanish manpower, and thus reduce unemployment.

The solution proposed by the Minister is action on jobs demand. In order to reduce unemployment, it is necessary to reduce the number of job seekers (act on the demand) or stimulate economic activity to generate more jobs (acting on jobs supply), although of course it is normal to act on both the demand and the supply.

Regarding demand, there are ways of acting on it. The proposal of the Minister is not preposterous, but it ignores a key factor influencing demand: unemployment benefits. This allowance is an incentive not to …

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2008-09-07 | Economy - Spain | Trackback | No Comments »

In capitalism’s defence.

By: psr, 2008-06-25

There are plenty of anti-capitalism opinions reflected in print, the media and on the Internet. When I read such material, I feel the need to reply in the form of an article in this blog, but I can rarely find the time.

Recently, however, I came across another such article in the blog of a friend of mine (the English text is a Google translation from the Spanish original), which has motivated me to write back.

The above-linked article presents capitalism as the source of corruption, slavery, drug trafficking, real state speculation, and several more calamities and misfortunes. It also describes capitalism as a system consisting of robbery, oppression of people, exploitation of workers, all for the benefit of just a few people (the capitalists). It even …

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2008-06-25 | Economy - General - Rights - World | Trackback | 1 Comment »

Oil prices, carriers and the Spanish government

By: psr, 2008-06-14

ï»¿The recent increase in oil prices affects all transport. Air, ground and sea transportation, passenger and cargo alike, have seen their costs rising in the last few months.

Analysts have provided several theories on the causes behind the oil price hike. Some put the blame on the credit crisis in the USA, others blame oil producers, others point at the US Federal Reserve, and others remind us of the significant increase in energy demand. I am not going to analyze the reasons here.

This week Spain saw a strike by some truck drivers (apparently about 20% of them), demanding Government intervention to help their activity, after fuel price increases are rendering their business a loss-making operation. Their strike blocked major communication roads around the main …

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2008-06-14 | Braindead - Economy - Europe - Spain | Trackback | No Comments »

Delocalization

By: psr, 2008-02-10

“Delocalization”: a term used to refer to companies moving factories or other operations from their usual locations to new ones.

People (politicians included) like to complain about companies “delocalizing”, and taking jobs away from their region (be it a town, province, country or a continent). They love to argue that the departing company is only moved by profit and has no sensibility for society and the local community.

However, “delocalization” is actually an illusion built on the illusion that things will not or should not change.

Businesses (whether a local business or a multinational opening a new factory or branch) establish themselves in a particular location, at a particular point in time, when it is in their interest. Likewise, new conditions may drive the …

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2008-02-10 | Economy - World | Trackback | 1 Comment »

Cleaning in Madrid Subway

By: psr, 2007-12-30

In Madrid, the cleaning service of subway stations and corridors is carried out by subcontractors. Workers of these companies are on strike since more than 13 days ago.

Sadly, citizen users of the subway are not extremely clean, and are able to throw on the floor their used-up tickets, newspapers and other waste, instead of carrying the waste to their own house or the nearest trash can.

The strike has caused all trash cans in the subway to overflow, and precisely for this reason, people should do their part and take their trash to another trash can (outside of the Subway or in their house). However, judging from the accumulation of garbage in the subway of Madrid, some people are clearly incapable of colaboration to keep public places …

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2007-12-30 | Economy - Spain | Trackback | No Comments »

Competition and consumer protection

By: psr, 2007-11-11

Antitrust cases in the U.S. and Europe against Microsoft concerning their operating system product were unfair and unnecessary. Because of the nature of computer operating system software, competition in this industry is a different concept compared to other industries. Consequently, the claims against Microsoft in the U.S. and Europe are meaningless. Instead, the U.S. and Europe should focus on liability legislation in the software industry.

False protection for consumers

While competition law may be effective in curbing abusive behavior in certain industries or markets, the operating system and computer software markets have a special characteristic, hardly found in other markets. A car, a telecommunications service, a steel manufacturer’s products, or a bank’s financial services, are all easily replaceable by a competitor’s products or services, in terms of usability …

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2007-11-11 | Economy - World | Trackback | No Comments »

Climate Change, Inc.

By: psr, 2007-10-22

What’s hip and cool on the outside, but a blushing lie on the inside? Man-made climate change. It’s the talk of the world. It’s the politically correct thing to say, and it’s also the politically incorrect thing to deny.

Lots of people have jumped on the bandwagon to declare that we are experiencing unusual global warming, and it’s caused by human activity on Earth.

It is worth putting things into perspective. The Earth is a some 4.5 billion year old system, and is far bigger and more complex than any man-made system or artifact. Humans have inhabited this planet for the past 130,000 years only. Human machinery and industrialization began some 200 years ago, at most. Human-produced CO2 emissions (widely regarded as a …

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2007-10-22 | Braindead - Economy - General - World | Trackback | 3 Comments »

Tied hands at the European Commission

By: psr, 2007-10-17

Numerous member states make up todayâ€™s European Union, and it grows every so often to incorporate new members. All these states pay for the expenses of the E.U., including administrative costs, EU subsidies, and other forms of aid given by the E.U.

In return for their contribution, each state expects to receive an equal share of E.U. aid back, in one or other form.

Funds administered by the European Commission are therefore subject to being distributed mostly according to geography rather than based on merit or need. Because such awarding method is meaningless, this reflects on the efficiency, quality and usefulness of several major E.U. projects.

For instance, the â€œEurofighterâ€ and the â€œGalileoâ€ project have had to assign manufacturing responsibilities of different parts of the systems to different E.U. countries, …

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2007-10-17 | Economy - Europe | Trackback | No Comments »

Cancel the Galileo project

By: psr, 2007-10-11

The European satellite navigation system, Galileo, is suffering serious delays, and continued cost over-runs. It should be operational by 2008, but has managed to place only one satellite (of 30) in orbit, and it’s a test satellite. This week, the European Commission and European States have discussed ways to jump-start the Galileo project, with a new target date for operation in 2014 (estimated). However, some reports indicate that funding for Galileo is not really secured.

I am a European, and I almost wish the Galileo project would collapse and fail. It would be a great lesson for European companies, States and leaders. The great weakness of Europe is in its diversity: diversity of governing bodies, diversity of cultures, languages and diversity of …

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2007-10-11 | Braindead - Economy - Europe | Trackback | No Comments »

Eco-hype

By: psr, 2007-10-02

Eco-friendly cars have arrived in the market with much fanfare. The global warming fashion is used as the selling point for these new cars which consume bio fuel, and produce fewer CO2 emissions than diesel or gasoline engines.

Yet, these cars are falsely eco-friendly. While their emissions may be lower, their fuel is more energy-consuming to produce than traditional diesel or gasoline.

The amount of energy required to produce 1 horsepower out of a bio-diesel car engine is greater, and more pollutant, than the energy required to produce 1 horsepower out of a regular diesel or gasoline car engine.

Bio-fuels (whether ethanol or bio-diesel) themselves require more energy to produce than the energy obtained out of them. These types of fuel are obtained from vegetable oils, …

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2007-10-02 | Braindead - Economy - World | Trackback | 5 Comments »

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Archive for the 'Economy' Category

Spain’s fake unemployment rates

In capitalism’s defence.

Oil prices, carriers and the Spanish government

Delocalization

Cleaning in Madrid Subway

Competition and consumer protection

Climate Change, Inc.

Tied hands at the European Commission

Cancel the Galileo project

Eco-hype

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