Economy

On this page you can see the conclusions on the subject of economy that will be debated. If you can’t attend and want to make a contribution to the debate, you can. We are working on a tool which will make possible an on-line discussion which will enable us to continue with the debates that will be taking place over the next few days.

We don’t want state charity, we want state-funded social services

The debate, which lasted for more than an hour and a half, gave us an opportunity to listen to a number of interesting contributions, as is illustrated below.  What follows is a  summary of some of the things that were said on 29th.

Tom Kucharz:

  • They talk about democracy, for us this is no more than a market-led coup d’etat, the transfer of public money into private hands and the socialisation of economic losses
  • They talk about helping transnational companies when 70% of jobs are in medium-small enterprises, which would suffer as a result of the Euro pact.
  • They talk about guaranteeing financial stability but we see no measures to regulate the system, nor taxes on financial transactions, nor regulations to control the major banks.

Ricardo Molero:

  • The financial markets say that Spain’s public debt is unsustainable. But this debt only represents  60% of GDP , less than in Portugal and Greece. In any case, ‘we don’t want state charity, we want state-funded social services just like in France or Germany.’
  • The most important part of Spain’s debt is private and overseas debt, 45% of which has been run up by Spanish banks. The financial markets think that the state will save them if they go bankrupt and that is why they are imposing such high interest rates.

 

  • Policies to reduce public spending are unnecessary as this debt is very small. In fact, public spending should be increased to sustain social policies. And it’s essential to make clear that the Spanish market, for reasons of pragmatism, is not going to carry out rescue operations. The people of Iceland voted in the referendum that they did not wish to save the banks and interest rates on the country’s debts fell from 15% to 5%, and have not moved.

The Sol Economic Commission:

  • 22 specific proposals. These include acceptance in lieu, the construction of state-owned rented housing, rules regulating the banks, a tax on speculative transactions, control of the banking system, an increase in the minimum wage, the regulation of maximum salaries and the abolition of tax havens
  • They can be seen at http://madrid.tomalaplaza.net/2011/06/06/propuestas-abiertas-de-la-comision-de-economia-sol/

The Feminist Commission:

  • The cuts in social services perpetuate social inequality. The advance constituted by, for example, the Dependence Act, has been set back by the cuts, which perpetuate the role of the carer, who is normally a woman.
  • Business takes advantage of women’s double presence: in the home and at work.

The Platform against the Privatisation of Bankia:

  • Yesterday it was agreed that Bankia will go public in two weeks, with a discount of 55% on the real value of the company.
  • The ‘cajas’ constitute 50% of the country’s financial system and they are being given away to investors and private banks.
  • We demand a system of state-owned saving banks which are closer to the citizen, which have a more just policy with respect to evictions and which offer for rent the housing stock they currently possess. We do not want the system of savings banks that has existed until recently, we do not want public representatives who are accessories to the plundering of the banks and do not represent us.

Association of the users of banks, savings banks and insurance companies:

  • In the debate in las Cortes nobody spoke about the state of the nation, but rather the state of the markets or the interests of the political parties.
  • We have to contribute ideas without doing the work of the politicians. And without allowing them to make changes which actually ensure that nothing changes.

Citizens:

  • We don’t want state charity, we want state-funded social services
  • The issue of emigration should not be linked to debates about the economy. Emigrants are not poor, they are impoverished because we impoverish them.
  • Prison terms for speculators.
  • Odious debt. In Europe, we can do the same thing as they have done in Latin Amrica – hold a referendum to decide whether to pay the debt or not.