スペイン政府の財政削減政策は、医療費や教育費を削減し、社会福祉国家の解体のみをもたらす
Recortes disfrazados de reforma
Muchos de los cambios anunciados son ajustes del gasto que no mejoran la eficiencia económica
El único efecto claro es adelgazar el Estado de bienestar
Alejandro Bolaños 5 DIC 2012 - 20:45 CET
Scraps disguised as reform
Many of the changes announced are spending adjustments that do not improve economic efficiency
The only clear effect is slimming the welfare state
Alejandro Bolaños 5 DIC 2012 - 20:45 CET
Five years of crisis, and countless announced plans to leave her enough baggage: when you hear the word reform, and the natural reaction is not to discuss whether the proposed change will help some, but throw out to the portfolio. When the Spanish are demanded, while drastic budget cuts and radical changes in the rules governing the economy. The conditions for Brussels, the European Central Bank (ECB) in Germany to support Spain against the attacks of the markets. But, as often repeated the Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, "the priority is to reduce the deficit." In more than one case, the reform package is far less than it promises. And, surprise, what's inside is more and more tax cuts.
To echo what international agencies, private research services and a substantial part of the academy spent years repeating the government, socialist before, now popular, has a capital importance to reforms. "We will leave the crisis-based reforms," said Elena Salgado, then financial vice president, at the end of the socialist government. "It is a long road ahead of reforms", recently warned the prime minister, Mariano Rajoy.
Calendar action announcement.
The crisis erupted because those reforms were not made, but now that the crisis is here, it impels them: the argument is that if structural problems are solved, there will be economic growth before and will be more sustainable. "In the case of Spain, explain that reforms should have been done long ago, that the housing bubble covered it all," says Ignacio Conde-Ruiz, professor of economics at the Complutense University and deputy director of the Foundation for the Study of Applied Economics (Fedea). The foundation, created by the Bank of Spain, is a major valedoras of the need for deep reforms in the Spanish economy.
"And now, what alternatives are there? When there are so many constraints on monetary policy and increase public spending is not an option, it is the only tool you have left to strengthen growth, "Conde-Ruiz abounds. Jorge Uxó, Professor of Economics at the University of Castilla-La Mancha and class member Econonuestra, very critical that this is the only way out of the crisis, believes the apparent commitment of governments is explained by other reasons: " The reform and modernization expressions have a positive semantic load, as happens with austerity deflect attention to the negative effects of the policies of cuts. "
Rajoy announces a reform after another out of necessity and external pressure
That policy reforms are best selling cuts not mean it will sell easily. Almost none is. The European Commission, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had years to the Spanish Government recommending changes in the pension system, in the regulation of labor, savings banks, in the electricity sector, in the composition of taxes, access barriers in services activities, in monitoring business competition or administrative process to start a business, to name just a few areas. Fell on deaf ears. Until the outbreak of the crisis.
"Why is it so difficult to make structural reforms", raised in an article Raghuram Rajan, when he was chief economist at the IMF. "Not everyone wins in the reforms. In many cases, they have no impact in the short term, they need more than one election cycle that the effects are visible. And future earnings are not always easy to explain, "synthesizes Conde-Ruiz, deputy director Fedea.
In his article, former IMF chief economist gave some clues to facilitate a government approval conflicting reforms. "A period of low or negative growth favors reform: o people realize their need or interest groups are weakened," Rajan said in reference to groups that lose legal changes. "The pressure from outside help," he added, "IMF surveillance is a form of international pressure worldwide to improve policies." Never in recent history has been the Spanish Government, hostage of a precarious financial situation, so sensitive to these pressures, which transform the recommendations into mandates.
Since the Great Recession of 2009, Spain has faced three major reforms. The Zapatero's Socialist government approved pension: rising from 65 to 67 years the retirement age and increasing the computation time, from 15 to 25 years of contributions. In addition, cuts to new pensioners to safeguard the viability of a system threatened by the aging population. The labor reform adopted by the Executive PP, cheaper dismissal and reinforces the power of enterprise bargaining: the goal is to increase productivity, but now, in the key of recession, resulting in more unemployment and wage cuts. The financial, after four attempts, it wound up doing Brussels to Madrid. Here there is public money to clean up the banks of their toxic load of loans tied to the brick, but the results are less visible credit to households and a significant loss of employment in the sector.
"The bubble covered it all," says the deputy Fedea
Examples of the tradeoff between short-term negative impact in exchange for broader gains in the medium term. Although Uxó Teacher, believes that "structural adjustment", not even that is the case: "The reforms are focused on the deterioration of working conditions, the decline in wage bargaining and thinning of the welfare state "he says. The debate wins in confusion with other reforms promoted by the PP government, in which the premium tax collection effort, the snip public spending.
The electricity sector, for example, calls for reform loudly. The electric bill paid by Spanish is one of the most expensive in the EU. And at the same time, the system is designed so that the gap between the income of producers and costs upon it is growing, so that consumers have more than 24,000 million to the sector. But what the PP government announced a reform in September stayed in a tax increase for producers, who end up paying ... consumers. "We just plugged the deficit," he admitted after Industry Minister Jose Manuel Soria.
The transformation of the education system is another pending. In a first analysis of the educational content of the National Reform Plan, Florentino Felgueroso, professor at the University of Oviedo and the founding partner Fedea, concluded that at least half of the 18 proposals of the Government alone explained "how to be made part of cuts in education "and" how likely these cuts will be consolidated over time. " Early Education dictated by regulatory changes were increases in university fees, increased teaching time and student-teacher ratio or suppression of degrees. Yes, the department led by José Ignacio Wert just launched education reform for non-university education and has established the foundations of a dual vocational training with an apprenticeship contract.
In health, the primacy of the cuts in legislative changes initiated by the Government is absolute: the copayment increase pharmacist provides the best example. The last notch adjustments disguising these reforms is to increase court fees, which are justified as a measure to unclog the courts, another of these structural problems that appeal to a thorough review. "Given the collapse of justice, just got more expensive to limit use, just discussed new ways," says Rogelio Velasco, economics professor at IE Business School.
"They are used to divert attention from the cuts," says Professor Uxó
"We are one of the countries with the highest per capita ratio of lawyers, most of the deputies are lawyers, and it shows in the legislation, very formalistic, which are not considered economic costs," continues the school teacher business, which gives an example: "Here, try to collect through the courts a returned check takes much longer than in Morocco." If that is joined to the initiation and development of the business may have to deal with the requirements of four administrations (central, regional, provincial and local), what remains is that Spain is one of the most complicated to put start a business.
"When it grew 3% hardly paid attention to these inefficiencies," concluded Velasco. The simplification of licenses and permits is at improving the functioning of the public sector or the detection of duplication between different levels of government, one of those reforms that go half way, if not in a drawer. Or at the committee, as the government has announced to make a ruling by June 2013. Legal changes aground here in the political debate, with winners and losers within the political parties themselves, something difficult to digest.
In other cases, the "stakeholders" which referred to the chief economist of the IMF are in the private sector. The reform of professional services, which involves lowering the barrier to entry established professional associations, has spent years stuck. And only fuel distributors are threatened with regulation to push their margins when the rising price of gasoline captures the attention of the media. And there, too, any reform that threatens to retrace its steps, such as the unification of regulatory and competition: it is argued, again, the need to save costs, but the risk is weaker oversight of the activity of large companies, as stressed repeatedly by the European Commission.
What is undeniable is that the crisis and the external pressure, have changed the pace of reforms. An OECD report highlighted this year that were just Greece, Spain, Ireland and Portugal, the countries that increased monitoring of its recommendations from 2008 to 2011. Another thing is to do so in the best way possible.
To address the collapse of justice, the government chooses to raise rates
The OECD, after analyzing the reforms implemented in the last 30 years, concluded that "support reforms with a well-functioning financial sector and an effective communication strategy is key to maximizing short-term profits." It also recommended "broad political support" and use public resources to compensate the losers (reinforce active labor market policies, for example). In difficult economic times, advises start reforms crucial sectors such as electricity or transportation, or eliminate barriers in trade and professional services. And delaying labor reform: "In depressed economies, such reforms quickly bring benefits only if put in place once the labor market shows clear signs of recovery." The contrast with the government's roadmap is striking. So is that the OECD itself has no qualms about contradicting and now to the Spanish press for another twist to the labor reform.
And the mass cuts and reform measures to Rajoy. In some cases, such as labor reform, has played a bet thoroughly controversial, but tiptoes through the abuse of temporary contracts. In many others, has thrown down the middle road, has gained time, when not covered cuts and tax increases processing of big words. In its way, recites what he said Chico Marx, Groucho Marx disguise, to Margaret Dumont in Duck Soup: "Who's going to believe, me or your own eyes?".
改革を装ったスクラップ
発表された変更の多くは、経済効率を向上させない調整を費やしている
唯一の明確な効果は福祉国家を細くされる
アレハンドロボラニョス5 DIC 2012 - 20:45 CET
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