By Don Quijones: Since taking office, Rajoy’s government has done everything within its means to alienate the Spanish public. Its key election pledges – taxes wouldn’t be hiked, banks would never be bailed out, vital services would not be cut, unemployment would be a priority, the economy would improve… – all turned out to be lies; and its corruption scandals are mushrooming. But now it has a new strategy: a territorial tussle with the UK.
Europe
NSA Pricked The “Cloud” Bubble For US Tech Companies
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on NSA Pricked The “Cloud” Bubble For US Tech Companies
The cloud is a growth industry. And a religion in Silicon Valley: you’re better off with all your data and software stored in a data center somewhere on the planet. It’s a beacon of growth that revenue-challenged global tech giants like Oracle and IBM wave in the faces of antsy investors. But now, they’re going to pay a steep price for their cooperation with the NSA.
Room For Hope? Fourth Largest Industry In France: It’s “Never Been This Catastrophic”
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Room For Hope? Fourth Largest Industry In France: It’s “Never Been This Catastrophic”
An awful turn of events in France, just when everyone was hailing signs of a recovery, of which evidence has been trickling in, albeit mixed at best. If you held your tongue just right, you could see vague glimmers of hope. Then came the results from France’s fourth largest industry, hotels and restaurants (along with the idea that you can always raise taxes).
Attitudes Harden in Spain as Catalonian Independence Referendum Looms
by Don Quijones • • Comments Off on Attitudes Harden in Spain as Catalonian Independence Referendum Looms
By Don Quijones, Spain: Since last year’s unprecedented protests to mark Catalonia’s national day of independence on September 11th, relations between Rajoy’s administration and Catalonia’s coalition government have soured to the point of curdling. Catalonia’s leader called it a “war of cultures” between the two “countries.”
NSA Spying in Germany: Turning “A Parliamentary Democracy Into A Banana Republic”
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on NSA Spying in Germany: Turning “A Parliamentary Democracy Into A Banana Republic”
“The largest espionage scandal in the 21st century is shaking Germany,” wrote Peer Steinbrück, the man who’s desperately trying to unseat one of the most popular German politicians, Chancellor Merkel. Massive anti-NSA protests spread across the country. Well, 1,000 demonstrators straggled through Frankfurt. It’s going to be tough for him.
Germany’s Government-Sponsored Export Machine Takes Aim At Greece, Argument Breaks Out
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Germany’s Government-Sponsored Export Machine Takes Aim At Greece, Argument Breaks Out
When going overseas, Chancellor Merkel doesn’t leave home without planeloads full of executives from Germany’s most coddled companies – exports being the core of foreign policy. And if these deals get snagged on the rusty nails of payment risks, it’s up to the government to help out with guarantees, even if they’re infested with conflicts.
Just How Low Can Spain Go?
by Don Quijones • • Comments Off on Just How Low Can Spain Go?
BBC’s article about the political funding scandal gripping Spain featured a photo of hapless leader Mariano Rajoy licking his lips like a “dirty old man.” It spread like wildfire across the social media, setting off a cacophony of calls for Rajoy to resign for the irreparable damage he’d done to Spain’s overseas image.
Austrian Steelmaker Offshores Production To … Texas
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Austrian Steelmaker Offshores Production To … Texas
Voestalpine, an Austrian steelmaker with 46,000 employees, saw its revenues decline by 4% last year. It blamed the “cooling down of the global economy,” and “dwindling momentum in Asia (especially China).” Now it’s under pressure to cut costs. Hence offshoring to cheap countries! China or Indonesia? Nope.
Blinded By Optimism, German Economy Now Below Stall Speed
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Blinded By Optimism, German Economy Now Below Stall Speed
The financial crisis was brutal for Germany, but the recovery steep, and in 2011, the gloating started. They called it the German “success recipe,” a superior system that would keep the economy growing even amidst Eurozone debt-crisis mayhem. That optimism has endured, and stocks have hit new highs, but the economy has diverged sharply.
(Broke) Italy “Would Love To” But Can’t Pay Its Bills This Year
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on (Broke) Italy “Would Love To” But Can’t Pay Its Bills This Year
In most countries, it would be an act of mind-bending chutzpah, or perhaps a display of political insanity, but in Italy it barely made ripples: for a government official, a minister no less, to declare that the country cannot pay its long overdue bills, and not for a month or two, but for the rest of this year! Due to “technical” problems.