Analysis of the ParteienStaat, State of Parties

The aim of this article is to explain briefly, one the biggest fraud in the political history, the system created by the Germans after the world war two, the ParteienStaat or  States of Parties. This system has been copied from the countries defeated in the war to the rest of countries in Europe, with some exception like France, Britain and Switzerland, and also as more German creations, to the rest of the world.

The state of parties, or particracy is a political system that we can be defined with the following two key characteristics:

1.- No Representation.

       According to the definition of the biggest German constitutionalist Gerhard Leibholz, it is a system he said, where there is no rest of REPRESENTATION, as he argued to have achieved something better. And that is "The Integration of the masses in the state". ( That could be the ideal of a crazy totalitarist, isn´t it?)

2.- There is no separation of powers.       
       i.e. In Spain there is one elections for the parliament (Elecciones Generales)                              
      Then the Parliament(legislative power) nominates, the executive power (gobierno)
       After that the parliament chooses the ruling board of Judicial power (Consejo General del Poder Judicial)
    
So, in this system one party that win one general election, like the Popular Party in Spain , can put in the hands of Rajoy the power to:      

1. Pass a law.
2. Execute that law  
3. Nominate the judge to dictaminate according to that law.

So now Mr. Rajoy with the 3 powers in one hand and no checks no balances, and without representation, all that powers haven´t given by the people, so can perfectly call that system as a 4 year dictatorship.
This system is corrupted from his origins, but in Italy before and in Spain, for cultural reasons, now has showed their worst face, the ECONOMICAL CORRUPTION.

But, once the problem is identify, we have to talk about SOLUTIONS, stop moaning and start paving the way to solve it.
And there are 2 clear an easy solutions.

1. A change the electoral law to set up a Representative system (like in France, US or Britain). Uninomial mayoritarian with double turn.
2. The creation of a new Constitution that guarantees the full and total separation of powers from the source to the end.

Obviously the actual political class will not accept to loose their privilege as being a 4 year tyrant, But WE THE PEOPLE have to stop giving them our support and our vote. Without the support of the people, the ilegitimate State of Party will found itself unable to rule the nation and will be unable to impose its rule.

Then the people will be ready to ask peacefully and firmly a period of "Constituent Freedom" where the people will freely and without any pressure from outside, will choose the from of State and Government that it wants.
The first pillar of the state of parties, the PSOE fall last in Nov 2011, the last one, the PP is colapsing after discovering its dirty and mafia-style founding methods.

@Jfmurciego

Another massive Financial Bubble from Brussels

Until not long ago, the Spanish bail out looked like something almost impossible without bringing about the sinking of the whole eurozone - it was too big to fail and too big to be rescued - but today nobody seems surprised. And even worse the ECB is planning a rescue for a country whose main problem is not liquidity but solvency. Last Thursday the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung stated "The ECB is fuelling another massive financial bubble". But the situations are  worse than the German and the ECB think . The Spanish Economy, as a consequence of the tough increases in  consumer taxes and  on the family means that  industrial income is now in free fall. That clearly means that Spain is actually unable to pay back its massive public debt, that has grown to 400B€ in four years, as well as the wider financial debt, that now amounts to some 892B€: (716B€ with European private banks and 176B€ with the monetary authority.)

The size of the Spanish external debt is already ten times bigger than that of  Greece, despite its economy being just five times bigger. That situation is crystal clear for the international private investors, who are running away from Spain. In the last six months a total of 229B€ has been withdrawn from the country, the equivalent of 21% of its GDP, and this is something that no economy can afford. Only  Germany and the ECB are reluctant to accept the disaster for what it is . "I totally trust Mr. Rajoy" said Mrs. Merkel in what looks like a declaration of love that bears no resemblance to  reality, because if we know anything about Rajoy, it is that nobody can trust him.  84% of the Spanish electors say they do not trust him anymore, and half of his supporters say they will never vote for him again.

Now the ECB wants to buy Spanish 3yr bonds, a bail out that, with no credible control mechanism over the use of the money and how it will be spent  will be a disaster for Spain and its citizens.  Bear in mind that the economical and social downfall will last several generations, and if what we have seen so far  looks like a total disaster, the worst is still to come. Not one Euro of that bail out will be for the productive economy, it is just giving more drugs to a the same drug addicts that have made no serious attempts at reform.

Nothing of what needs to be done has been fulfilled, nothing has been reformed in the normal way that business should be - rich people pay no tax, big corporations pay about half of what they should  pay and big financial gangsters are not put on trial in court. In some cases if they are found guilty the government indulges them - and there is no control over the waste of public money with regions and city administrations. This sector is  totally out of control  and the financial system, in an unprecedented situation. And Mr Rajoy still has no idea about what to do.

Germany rules, but doesn't understand and is not addressing the flaws  in countries like Italy, Spain and Greece. Nobody has been ever found guilty of building unused airports, leading systemic financial institutions to bankruptcy or ruining regions as important as Catalonia and Valencia due to disastrous mismanagement of the public funds both from Spain and the EU. Some are asking for a national debate about the bail out. That is pie in the sky . Put simply:  THERE IS NO MONEY.

The money pumped in to Spain without any external control from Europe has ruined the country.

Without the money first from the financial institutions, and then from the ECB, that was lent in an unlimited way to the corrupt political and financial oligarchy, the real estate bubble in Spain could never have happened. And without those money flows, Spain would have been forced to do its homework during the period of socialist rule - 2004 to 2011.  Maybe  it could have avoided the contemporary mess   indebted beyond what can be repaid by future generations. In this scenario, what stands out  is the  remarkable role of the European banks, particularly the German Landesbanki, who lent more that 700B€ with no analysis or control whatsoever of the totally politicized and corrupt saving banks.

Germany and the EU started between 2002 and 2007 to lend money to Spain as though there were  no limits . Due to this behaviour, dozens of banks and savings banks that needed to be closed stayed alive and the political oligarchy together with the corrupt businessmen started to built luxury sports and arts centres in every single city and conference centres in every major city. Moreover, they  built luxury networks on the railways and motorways of Europe, while still having the most badly run secondary rail and road in the whole developed world. A total waste and monstrously corrupt. Bribery has reached an all time high, a fact that means competitivity has suffered enormously.

Despite  all this, the ECB president, Mario Draghi, will offer Spain more of the same. A preventive bail out of between 20 and 100B€ in one year, payable twice  every six months. There are more possibilities, but the most probable is a credit line with "enforced conditionality,” This condition is a joke,  as the supposed conditionality is that Spain must adopt the necessary corrective measures that Madrid wants. This can be translated as more tax increases, more cuts in pensions and benefits of all kinds and in salaries, but no talk about reduction in regional waste.

Mr Draghi said that that auditing also will be performed on the public accounts to "check if the objectives are fulfilled. And if not, especially if they are quite far, the preventive bail out became a full one". The whole idea is so bizarre that it is difficult to understand what the ECB bureaucrats and the European Commission do for a living. What was all that about  “Checking the Targets?” Haven´t they already realized that the government is spending double its income, and the increase in VAT only will add 2.5B€ by the end of this year?. Haven't they already realized that all the regions and cities are bankrupt and that they are still spending as if there were no tomorrow? Haven´t they seen that after the publication of  July´s figures, the 2012 deficit will go far beyond the 10% of GDP?

It´s time for Germany and the ECB to realise that Spain is not even close to fulfilling any debt or growth  whatsoever, and the more money they get the bigger the ruin will be for the future generations of Spaniards, because not a single cent of that money will be invested in the productive economy..No, it will be used merely for fixing holes in savings banks or fixing corrupt regions or cities!. So why give more money to an irresponsible and rotten government? Just to allow it to sell the future generations down the river?

And to cap it all, the height of sarcasm:, "the target of the preventive program is to support healthy politics". What do the bureaucrats of the ECB understand by healthy politics? Keep giving Bankia 23B€ that, as its president said, it would be "paid back" in 20 years?. Keep financing the holes in the regions and cities, that have been wasting more that 40B€ in 2012, and now need 18B€ or more, because they just refuse to cut their  relatives’, lovers’ and friends’ expenses? This is not mere tittle tattle:  it is exactly what is going on. Neither the Spanish people nor any European people deserve those European institutions that are so deeply ignorant and irresponsible

But the first prize, of course, goes to  the opposition leader in Spain, Mr. Rubalcaba, the man mainly responsible, with Mr Zapatero, for the ruin of Spain. He has not found easy solutions to all our problems. For the third time of asking, the socialist announced a "big fiscal reform" - it can be a small one indeed! - and why not the umpteenth "Social sustainability law". And that´s not all, no, Rubalcaba has got a secret weapon. "I will tell the Europeans that the socialists will not accept any further cut", so let´s keep spending double the national income because the difference will be paid by the Germans and the rest of Europeans and the ECB, with no condition or limit whatsoever, as well as the 140B€ due every year. Why did nobody think of this before?

*Stefanie Claudia Müller is a German corespondent in Madrid and economist.

Roberto Centeno is a Professor of Economy in the Universidad Politécnica of Madrid.

La credibilidad de la City

Cuando echamos la vista atrás, a la gran crisis del 2008 recordamos la caída del banco americano Lehman Brothers, que en España dirigía el actual Ministro de Economía, y los días de pánico, en los que los bancos no se prestaban entre ellos por miedo al contagio de la basura de las hipotecas subprime y otros fantasmas escondidos en los libros de contabilidad. En esos días el mercado interbancario, cuyo índice internacional por excelencia es el Libor estaba a unos precios desorbitados, que impedían a los bancos su refinanciacion y les obligo a llamar a papa estado para que los rescatara, o mas bien, visto los últimos acontecimientos en europa, para hundierse juntos, al ser la clase financiera reinante en Europa y la clase política simplemente sus amas de llaves, sus gobernantas.

Estos días el índice Libor vuelve a estar de infame actualidad, este indice que es el equivalente al Euribor en los mercados internacionales, en el cual es basan desde el calculo de hipotecas a el de los prestamos a pequeños negocios o incluso los prestamos estudiantiles y que sirve de referencia para un mercado de mas de 300 billones de dolares en derivados, el Libor es el centro de todas las miradas al desatarse el mayor escandalo, según los expertos que ha visto la city en los últimos 40 años y que puede comprometer su reputación y su credibiilidad como plaza de referencia mundial del mecado financiero.

Cada día, a las 11:45 GMT con puntualidad británica, la agencia Reuters publica el índice de la Asociación Británica de Banqueros, calculado a partir de la media de los tipos de interes proporcionados por los principales bancos de la city, retirando los 4 mayores por arriba y los 4 menores por abajo, la media de los valores intermedios nos da el valor del Libor. Lamentablemente los últimos acontecimientos nos indican que el calculo de este índice es mucho mas sórdido.

El pasado lunes dimitía los dos primeros dirigentes del banco Barclays, que también tiene presencia en España. Bob Diamond el numero uno en el escalafón, después de dimitir, tuvo que comparecer en comisión parlamentaria, para explicar su proceder y defenderse de las acusaciones de haber amañado este índice, y de que incluso sus operadores de bolsa median cuanto ganaban si lo ponían mas alto o mas bajo, de lo cual el negó tener conocimiento con una sangre fría y una dureza digna de su apellido.

Las pruebas son contundentes, correos electrónicos de los operadores han desvelado unas practicas escandalosas indignas de una industria financiera que se tenia por muy reputada y seria. Si el montante del valor de los mercados de derivados, deuda, CDS y demas productos financieros exceder el valor de la economía real en una proporción escándalos, la base de calculo para estos mercados ha perdido su credibilidad, la situación no es que la economía real sea rehén de una economía financiera que se parece a un casino, sino que han sido pillados los crupieres manipulando la ruleta y con ases en la manga.

La multa para el banco Barclays, no se ha hecho esperar, tanto los reguladores británicos como los americanos le han impuesto multas que pueden parecer irrisorias para los daños provocados. Y ahora se avecinan las demandas en los tribunales por fraude, que se considera una ofensa criminal, punible con cárcel. Pero la mayor consecuencia va ha ser haber manchado el nombre de la City de Londres, el distrito financiero con mas solera del mundo, centro de gran parte de la mayoría de decisiones del ámbito financiero, pero cuyas practicas dejan a los profesionales de la banca financiera y de inversión al nivel de simples trileros cazados ahora por la justicia.

Not in our name, by a Spaniard.

They started by lying, They continued with the lies and still now, after all the facts have been confirmed and witnessed by the whole world with skeptical eyes, they are still lying. They carry on with their self-deluded impression that they can decide what's right, and what's wrong, as if  reality should obey the rules of their deluded minds.

The Spanish political class, born during the so-called  “Political transition” that came about  after the death of Franco the dictator, has just put Spain at its lowest point in its modern history. Some voices even consider it deeper that the national crisis that occurred in the aftermath of the Spanish-American war in 1898, that marked the end of its overseas domination.

Until five years ago, Spain looked like a new power, rebuilding itself with  massive real estate development, within a year  more houses were built than in Germany, France and Italy put together. It was a fever fuelled by cheap money pumped in from Germany and France with few controls that helped to develop not only the real states in the Costa??, but also infrastructure projects such as airports with no planes. The biggest high speed network in the world was also  built, but what grew the most was the megalomania of the political class, a class that used to be austere by default, but that soon started to feel in the "Champions League" when it came to spending.

By this time, the critics were not welcome in the discussions. The whole society preferred to live in a world based on fiction.  The philosopher Hans Vaihinger called it “Fictionalism” in his book “Philosophy of As If” (1911), Its central message was that   people often prefer to believe in fantasy than confront the truth. At this time, the economical model looked as if it was prosperous and sustainable. The political powers looked as if  they had introduced checks and balances. The electoral system looked as if it was representative despite, having lists dictated by the party leaders. Moroever, the “European Project”  looked as if it  was the best creation in the long history of the continent, with the euro greatest icon, something that almost all the country believe to be so good that only an utterly euroskeptic could stay out of it.

There have been five necessary years of tough recession, with 24 per cent unemployment and a horrific 51 per cent of youth unemployment to make the people wake up from that illusion. Slowly the population is coming to understand that our economy is uncompetitive, there is no separation of political powers and no control whatsoever of the huge state power that now lays in the fearful hands of Mr. Rajoy. He has been the head of the executive, deciding which laws have to be voted in the parliament and which judges should apply them. He does make himself available to a press that is far from free and independent.. Luckliy for him, there is not such a thing in Spain, despite of some minority media. The vast majority of the media keeps repeating the same lies of the political class "This is not a bailout", "It is a great success for Mr. Rajoy" "A victory against Europe".

It is easy to understand why the local media share the same self delusion knowing that they share the same ideological and financial roots. The public is a heavy investor in advertising in all the traditional media and  only a small part of the internet media can escape of its tentacles. And it is not only the media where the public uses its control via subsidies. Workers' unions and NGOs are heavily funded by the government, sharing then a strong bond that sometimes can make them to obedient to their paymasters , and if can get worst there is also state money for the political parties themselves, so the taxpayers have to pay for the parties that have not even voted for! In this vicious circle only the parties with enough money and media support can survive. They are always the same big ones, even if his entire manifesto is a bunch of lies, or if they have no manifesto as in last November elections. However it doesn't really matter in this oligarchy of parties since power is the key, even in a sinking boat. Being captain is the sole objective of Ms Rajoy, after reaching it he can go back to his siesta and to watch the national football selection or any sport he wants. He can even be in Poland for the European Championship football rather than stay in Spain to explain to the people why the country's banks need recusing. After all, nobody can control his powers even if he takes decisions against 95 per cent  of the population, as his master Aznar did in the past.

Some may ask how is possible to have such an oligarchic system such as the one that was set up in Spain. This can only be understood  with a thorough knowledge  of the Spanish Transition, when the leader of Falange, the Spanish fascist party, made a deal with the socialist Felipe Gonzalez, backed and financed by the German SPD and the Communist leader Santiago Carrillo.  This created a truly bizarre situation whereby fascists, socialists and communists agreed on looting the old authoritarian state. also In addition, they introduced  a proportional electoral system  as the new leaders had no popular support. The only way to guarantee being elected was to get yourself top of the party list (which you had a major role in devising)  Secrecy was the key in creating the new constitution, that was supervised by Franco´s sucessor, granting then the No separation of powers and No representation. Only  a few civil liberties kidnapped after the war were granted and the Spanish population started to feel less subjugated, a feeling that improved when Spain  joined the EEC, and later became enthusiastic partners in the European Single Currency.

The actual crisis is not only economical but political as well, and marks the end of the political regime. The economy has failed, politics has also  failed. Even the judiciary and the monarchy are under public scrutiny owing to their recent corruption scandals, linked again to the lack of controls in public life.

Now that Spain has almost hit rock bottom, and the populations is suffering the biggest pain  is time for solutions, for a new beginning in which the people must decide what they couldn't in the Transition, namely the form of State and form of Government. This must be done without ideological pressure and with the support of the Western Democracies, as their populations are being asked to pay that bill. It is time to tell the to the British taxpayer: Stop bailing out Spanish political class. Don't do that in the name of the Spaniards, because they just represent themselves

Only when that corrupted ones lost the support of the eurocrats, Spain will be deciding his fate again in a different way closer to Britain and France and far from Germany´s state of parties. Then the sunny paradise where the northern europeans enjoy their rest will be flourishing again and its people will not need to emigrate as it happened in the past.


Jesus Murciego

Mercados Cautivos

Para cualquiera que haya sido o sea usuario de telefonía móvil en España el siguiente escenario le va a resultar muy familiar,  en la era de las liberalizaciones de los mercados de alto valor estregico, cuando distintas compañias de distintas procedencias entran en un mercado a competir, la situación de la mayoría de los mercados españoles es la siguiente:

1. La calidad del servicio siendo pesima ocupa los últimos lugares de los ranking europeos del sector.
2. Los precios de los servicios están entre los mas caros de Europa, a veces incluso doblando la media.
3. Sin embargo el poder adquisitivo del consumidor español es de los mas bajos de Europa.

Ante estos tres factores, una postura con con sentido común nos diría que la libre competencia entre estas empresas haría que la calidad subiera, el precio bajara y se adaptara a la capacidad de consumo del español medio, pero como esto no pasa nos tenemos que preguntar el porque, no solo para el sector de las telecomunicaciones sino también otros sectores estrategicos como las eléctricas, los hidrocarburos.....

Analizando los orígenes de estos sectores del poder economico, veremos que vienen de antiguos monopolios,  donde el poder político fijaba los precios de los servicios y los estándares de calidad, aun tenemos recuerdos de la cantidad de meses que había que esperar para que te instalasen una linea en los 70 y 80, lo cual convertía a un servicio de gran utilidad en un lujo y una pesada carga para la renta familiar.

Con el paso de los años y la llegada de las nuevas tecnologías como internet y las corrientes políticas de privatizacion "sugeridas" o mas bien teledirigidas desde la UE, se rompió el gran monopolio y se abrió el camino para grandes empresas extranjeras y otras nacionales que posteriormente serian vendidas fuera entrasen a participar del mercado español.  Pero aun así, este cambio en lugar de traernos una libre competencia nos llevo del monopolio, al duopolio y posteriormente a una oligarquía donde estas empresas en lugar de competir para dar los mejores servicios al mejor precio simplemente se ponen de acuerdo para repartirse el pastel, que antes constaba de una unica parte y ahora tocan mas a repartir, con pedazos mas pequeños si, pero de un pastel que ha aumentado espectacularmente desde la entrada de España en el euro lo que multiplico la capacidad de consumo de los españoles gracias a una increíble capacidad de endeudamiento jamas vista hasta entonces por el españolito de a pie, y que por ello le parecío algo positivo, hasta que la crisis nos recordó que no lo es tanto.

Nos podemos preguntar, que hacían y hacen las autoridades regulatorias ante este oligopolio y esta manipulacion descarada de los precios, esta intervencion de facto del mercado, la respuesta es obvia, NADA, de hecho no es que no defendieran al consumidor, mas aun, defendian a las empresas que abusaban en precios y en calidad de servicios, tanto es asi que la comision europea multaba a empresas españolas y el estado se ponia del lado de los intereses de los abusadores en lugar de los intereses del consumidor español, demostrando asi a quien representa, que no es al ciudadano español sino a los oligarcas españoles.

Es fácil de que entender este escenario de grandes compañias con el apoyo de los políticos que las representan y les hacen las leyes a su medida y que después de pasar por los puestos públicos continúan sirviendo a dichas empresas desde los mismísimos consejos de administración, como es el caso de dos vicepresidentes del gobierno, en este escenario los consumidores están indefensos, pueden cambiar de compañía, si, pero sera igual o peor, de Malaga para Malagon porque ellos ya se han puesto de acuerdo con el apoyo de la clase política para tomar de rehén a los ciudadanos en un MERCADO CAUTIVO, donde la competencia ya ha consensuado lo que es mejor para el sector y los políticos lo han bendecido.

Este escenario económico no es mas que el espejo del escenario político que vivimos en España, donde también el antiguo monopolio del partido único se convirtió en un oligopolio de varios partidos que carecían y siguen careciendo de representacion de la ciudadania, ellos mismos hacen sus listas que llenan de lo mas mediocre e incapaz de la casta política, ya que también dentro de estas asociaciones políticas la competencia esta prohibida y la sumisión y obediencia conviven con las traiciones mas espúreas en las sombras. Al igual que los mercados económicos donde no gana la libre competencia, en la política solo las opciones mas serviles tienen éxito.

Por eso, el único camino para conseguir que tengamos unos servicios de calidad en sectores estrategicos como el mercado de las telecomunicaciones y energía necesitamos necesitamos que el poder económico este regulado por un poder político con instituciones separadas en origen, para que se vigilen entre ellas compitiendo en honradez y unas leyes votadas por los representantes mayoritarios de cada uno de las circunscripciones electorales. Solo después de un cambio en la naturaleza del poder político podremos empezar a competir con los primeros países de Europa y saldremos del furgón de cola.