This is my latest update of the British pound to euro exchange rate, covering the 6th to 13th April 2012 period. This is intended as a brief guide to what’s affected the exchange rate in the last week, to help you decide if now is the best time for you to change currencies. I wouldn’t blame Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy for feeling a little disgruntled right now. Like a good student, he has listened to the teachings of his EU professors and announced spending cuts of some €28 billion, not to mention €10 billion more in so-called efficiency savings in health and education. Has this restored market confidence in Spain? Not an inch. In fact, since announcing these measures, banded … [Read more...] about Pound gains as Spain teeters on the brink
spain austerity measures
General strike hits Spain
Privatisation through the back door
The messages that have come out of the recent demonstrations in Valencia are not just about the effect of the cutbacks on schools and the poor spending decisions of the Valencian government. Even police brutality is only a small part of the story. There is also the underlying accusation that private schools, unlike the state sector, are having their budgets protected. This is not an austerity measure. This is a political spending decision that will create a trend of irreversible privitisation of schools. And it’s not just in Spain. The coalition government in the UK is responsible for something very similar. As school budgets are squeezed and the UK braces for more cut backs, the … [Read more...] about Privatisation through the back door
Is Spain set to follow Greece?
Even without fully grasping the situation in Greece right now, it’s difficult to read the list of austerity measures being imposed on it without feeling shocked. Public workers like teachers must return wages, because the debt deal is backdated to November. The government must cut €300m from public pensions, leaving people in and approaching retirement destitute. Greece must auction its €110 billion gold reserves in the event it fails to meet targets, removing the absolute last means of funding itself when all others are exhausted. For its pains, in all likelihood Greece will be forced to return to Brussels in 12 months to request more funds, because these same demands are pushing it … [Read more...] about Is Spain set to follow Greece?