... at least I
think that's what their demanding. They might as well. There's certainly
no more Spanish money to give them.
Spanish workers disrupted broadcasts and transport in the first general strike in eight years as demonstrators were set to march through Brussels for a day of protest against spending cuts by European governments.
Austerity? Why all this austerity? We can't be out of money - we still have checks in our checkbooks!
The extra yield investors demand to hold Spanish 10-year bonds instead of German equivalents rose to 198 basis points today, compared with 193 basis points yesterday and a two-month low of 137 basis points on July 27. Moody’s Investors Service is due to complete a review of Spain’s credit rating tomorrow, the same day the 2011 budget goes to Parliament.
“A disappointing budget combined with an effective general strike and a rating review on 30 September could supply that catalyst” for investors to sell Spanish debt, said Robert Crossley, a fixed-income strategist at Citigroup Inc. in London.
That anyone is waiting to sell Spanish bonds is amazing to me. How in the world do the bondholders think they're going to be paid?
They'll be paid in unicorn milk, of course!
The workers want more money? No problem, just print up a new batch of pesetas and... What? We handed control of our currency over to the Germans? Hey! Weren't those the same guys who bombed Guernica? Whose idea was this anyway?
ReplyDeleteBetter than state of California IOU's.
ReplyDeleteWhat California needs is its own currency!
ReplyDeleteIsn't that what the IOUs are?
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, one of the things that irks me about the news is you only hear about the people who are screwing up and that you don't want to emulate. What about the people who aren't screwing up? Eh? What about them? Why can't we hear about what *they* are doing? Why can't we have some actual good pointers, instead of just an endless stream of bad examples?
Tim, you make a good point. Let's see if we can focus on what Brazil is doing and see what's happening there.
ReplyDelete