-- Posted Sunday, 5 August 2012 | | Disqus
[From sun-drenched Spain, here’s a dispatch from ‘Buster,’ an occasional contributor to the Rick’s Picks forum. Much as Buster loves the warm climate of Spain, the economic and political climate have grown so frigid that he’s thinking about moving to…Iceland. The country is becoming a very appealing place to live, says Buster, because it has taken to heart lessons learned from the banking collapse of 2008. RA]
Sunny Spain…or Iceland? Many may mistakenly think of Spain as a comparatively less developed nation, since it emerged from the Franco era only relatively recently. However, Spain could actually be seen as a more advanced model of where we are all heading. The story goes that, as part of Spain’s acceptance into the world order of things, her administrators spent some time visiting and learning from the dark tax overlords of various countries to get up to speed in the modern methods available for wealth extraction and bureaucratic empire building. Today, many of the consequences of their diligent hard work are abundantly clear. A quick scan of the news over the past year will supply a list of corruption allegations against many of the past administrators, with the burdens that they lay still continuing to stifle prosperity, and thousands losing their homes to the banks, and record numbers unable to pay their property taxes.
Further, a visit to Spain may seem to some like entering a cross between the Third Reich and the People’s Republic of China, since nearly all activity will involve some bureaucrat demanding the equivalent of “Papiere, bitte!” with a quick “No possible” or worse still, a fine or penalty when one is unable to supply the correct one; plus seeing so many Spanish shops being turned into a Chinese bazaar. This is due to Spain’s government having given Chinese companies a five-year tax-free window in which to operate. This was set up in a deal that was originally to involve China purchasing Spanish lemons in return. China quickly withdrew from the purchase after getting the concession, which still remains to this day. Every now and then, another Spanish shop closes, adding more Spaniards to the already debilitating 25% unemployment figure. The shop is soon reopened by a Chinese firm employing cheap Chinese labour for five years before closing down again. Coinciding with this, there is a very painful bureaucratic burden and rapidly increasing tax burden, too, for anyone else wishing to run a small business. Even simply being self-employed requires a payment of €300 each month in taxes whether any money is earned by the individual or not! Under consideration is a law that would require an employment contract and the collection of a heavy tax on households that employ a cleaner, or even home care for the elderly.
Spain’s War on Cash Economy
You are required to get a license and pay a fee for just about everything in Spain, including renting out your house, and you can be fined €20,000 for failing to comply. You must even secure a license to go fishing! In addition, with talk of outlawing cash entirely, Spain has declared war on the black-market economy, taking yet another step toward transforming the country into a poverty trap for anyone outside of government or the corporate establishment.
It gets even worse, with sweeping crackdowns and fines for routine traffic violations and for failure to comply with an ever-growing list of rules concerning proper footwear; carrying all sorts of emergency gear, including high-visibility vests and an extra pair of eyeglasses if worn; and, if crossing the border into France, two sets of Breathalyzers. Any lapses and you will fall afoul of the non-laws that govern Spain’s roads. I say ‘non-laws’ because not even the government seems to know for certain what the rules are regarding changing one’s driver’s license from one’s home country to Spain. All of this permits local police to have a field day fining expat pensioners up to a reported €600 for breaking laws that are subjectively enforced, depending on which cop and what day of the week it is.
In contrast, following its financial collapse in 2008, Iceland reportedly is doing quite well compared to most other countries. Perhaps this is because they treated those who helped precipitate the collapse as criminals rather than coddling them with generous severance packages. As you may recall, Iceland bailed out its people, not the banks, much to the disgust of Europe’s elite. And so, Icelanders are not rioting in the streets as they are here in Spain this week; instead, they are busy online helping to draft new rules to protect themselves from predatory bankers. Although I’ve always much preferred warm climates, I have an odd desire to leave Spain behind – for Iceland.
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-- Posted Sunday, 5 August 2012 | Digg This Article
| Source: GoldSeek.com
