Since the approval of Spain¿s 2012 National Budget on March 30, 2012, some doubts and controversies have added up to many fears in the private sector regarding the measures and stimuli that the Spanish government was going to undertake. At the same time, this situation was in some measure aggravated by the financial backlog of many small and medium companies, which are and will continue, in the following years to be completely unable to comply with their financial requirements. In line with Boronat Ombuena¿s (2009a, 2009b, 2010, 2012) requirements in his new approach to finance and private sector liaisons, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the recent years of the credit sector in Spain as well as its direct and mid-term effects that its mergers and acquisitions (M&A) have contributed up to date, and will still produce in the near future. We will take a closer look at the evolution of the banking sector in Spain from 1995 to 2012 through a historically-based methodology, compiling and synthesizing the existing financial and risk market information and analyzing its evolution. We shall observe that in a single year, the total number of savings banks in Spain decreased from 45 to only 15 entities and that the risks the financial system took over these last few years were not equally distributed across the entities, resulting in an advanced foreclosure of the regional savings banks and in a market-share growth for the commercial banking entities. This process has resulted in creating larger entities and, in some cases, a vacuum of regional and local credit entities that in the mid-long term will eventually end up in a representative loss on credit availability. These circumstances call into question the need for a paradigm change and most importantly, new approaches to solve the new challenges that can result in the financial fluidity of the system and the eventual recovery of the economic structure.
Background of INCASI Project H2020-MSCA-RISE-2015 GA 691004. WP1: Compilation ; En este artículo se trata de hallar explicaciones que ayuden a entender la gravedad y duración de la crisis actual. Para ello se analizan las causas de la misma y las políticas adoptadas frente a ella. Se sostiene que la crisis actual es en gran medida un reflejo de las fallas sistémicas de la economía mundial provocadas en gran parte por la persistencia de las políticas neoliberales. Las respuestas adoptadas, lejos de alterar esta orientación, han supuesto una profundización de las mismas políticas. En ello ha tenido un papel fundamental la hegemonía ejercida por las élites capitalistas a la hora de imponer sus intereses. Se analizan los mecanismos por los cuales se ejerce esta hegemonía, en particular el de las ideologías preponderantes en los teóricos y gestores de la economía y el del diseño de la Unión Europea. En la última parte del artículo se advierte de la importancia de las cuestiones ecológicas, otro problema sistémico ignorado en la mayoría de debates sobre las propuestas de salida de la crisis, y se aborda la necesidad de elaborar una respuesta sistémica. ; This article seeks to find explanations that help to understand the gravity and duration of the current crisis. It analizes the crisis' causes and the policies adopted against it. It is maintained that the current crisis is for the most part a reflection of the systemic faults of the global economy provoked mainly by the persistence of neoliberal policies. The adopted answers, far from changing this orientation, have meant the deepening of the same policies. In this context the capitalist elites had a relevant role to impose the hegemony of their interests. The mechanisms that apply to this hegemony are analyzed, in particular those from the preponderant ideologies in the theorists and consultants of the economy and the European Union design. The last part of the article warns about the importance of ecological issues, another systemic problem that is ignored in most ...
Italia, uno de los laboratorios socio-políticos de la postguerra, vive hoy una profunda crisis de sistema. La quiebra del Estado social clientelar, el declive de la democracia de los partidos y el fin del sistema de economía mixta han puesto en cuestión el modelo de Estado y de sociedad construido por los partidos populares surgidos de la resistencia. La crisis de este laboratorio se ha visto agravada por la desaparición de la escena política de las denominadas dos iglesias de Italia, el partido católico y el comunista, los cuales estructuraron durantes años la identidad de los italianos e impulsaron la modernización económica. En un contexto de metamorfosis social y política ha irrumpido un movimiento nacionalpopulista, que ha tomado forma política en actores políticos ajenos a los principios constituyentes de 1948, como el partido xénofo y segregacionista de la Lega Norte y la alianza política Forza Italia. La actual dialéctica del proceso de modernización capitalista, globalización económico-financiera verus comunitarismos étnicos-regionales, ha afectado de lleno a la sociedad italiana. El objetivo de este libro no es otro que el de aportar algo de luz a la crisis de este laboratorio, caracterizado por la dialéctica que se estableció entre la defensa de una tercera vía socio-política por parte de uno de los partidos comunistas más importantes de la postguerra y el proceso de modernización capitalista, el cual tiene sus últimas manifestaciones en la quiebra del Estado social y en la globalización económica.
The purpose of this article is to analyse the impact that the economic crisis, which began in 2007, and the fiscal consolidation policies subsequently adopted have had on the finances of the Catalan government (Generalitat of Catalonia). The crisis seriously affected the Generalitat's tax revenues, mainly the Property Transfer Tax linked to the real estate sector. The fiscal consolidation policies applied on the revenue side have been determined by the taxing power of the Generalitat, which has no regulatory power over major taxes, except Personal Income Tax (IRPF), and very limited powers with regard to tax administration, which means the Generalitat's finances are subject to the advance payment system. Consequently, there has been a significant reduction in Catalan government expenditure, which has hit the welfare state services (health and education). Financial expenditure, on the other hand, increased considerably by generating deficit and debt. It may therefore be concluded that spending cuts on basic services have not only been caused by the crisis but also by the shortcomings of the regional financing model and the deficit targets set by the central government, lower than what would correspond to the Generalitat's responsibilities.
The theory of social capital rarely takes economic variables into account. This article confirms that economic factors had greater explanatory power for social trust and trust in institutions during times of economic crisis, due mainly to increased economic polarization of the population. We use Spain as a case study to analyse the impact of a number of variables on social and institutional trust before and during the economic crisis. The economic crisis in Spain resulted in a paradox: a notable decline in trust in institutions, together with a surprising increase - rather than the expected decrease - in social trust. The data analysed here also highlight the possibility that the two types of trust did not track in a mutually supportive manner due to the emergence of Movimiento 15M, which gave rise to the appearance of new political parties such as Podemos, on the extreme left of the electoral scale.
El objetivo de este trabajo es entender cuáles son las causas del aumento del rechazo hacia las personas inmigradas. Para ello se utilizarán dos casos de estudio: la Europa de los 15, mediante un análisis cuantitativo, y España, mediante un análisis más descriptivo y contextualizado. Tres son las hipótesis con las que se pretenden entender dichas causas: cuanto más impacto tiene la crisis (paro), mayor es la aversión hacia el inmigrante; cuanto mayor es el incremento de población inmigrada en un país, mayor el rechazo; por último, la presencia de un partido de extrema-derecha (populista) que movilice y politice la inmigración conlleva a una oposición mayor ; L'objectiu d'aquest treball és entendre quines son les causes que han provocat un augment del rebuig cap a les persones immigrades. S'utilitzaran dos casos d'estudi: l'Europa dels 15, mitjançant un anàlisi de caire qualitatiu, i Espanya, tractant-se en aquest cas d'un estudi descriptiu i contextualitzat. Tres són les hipòtesis amb les que es pretenen explicar aquestes causes: quant major es l'impacte de la crisi (atur), major és el rebuig cap a l'immigrant; quant major és l'increment de la població immigrada en un país, també major és el rebuig; per últim, la presencia d'un partit d'extrema dreta (populista) que mobilitzi i polititzi la immigració provoca que l'oposició sigui major
En este trabajo, se plantea la cuestión hacia qué dirección se dirigirá la crisis de la deuda soberana, evaluando, si existen circunstancias que lo encaminen hacia la integración o no, de la Unión Europea. Alemania como economía consolidada, aunque con una visión equivocada de la crisis, puede escoger actuar como líder cooperante o hegemónico para tratar de ir más allá de la lógica actual del euro, diseñando un esquema donde el BCE tome más importancia en la creación de objetivos comunes, que den un nuevo impulso al proyecto de unión política. Por otro lado, se realizará una comparativa con la experiencia de Estados Unidos en materia de unidad fiscal, para concluir en que es necesario fortalecer la idea de unidad política Europa. Sin embargo, este será un largo tránsito y de final desconocido.
This paper describes a paradox of global thrift. Consider a world in which interest rates are low and monetary policy is constrained by the zero lower bound. Now imagine that governments implement prudential financial and fiscal policies to stabilize the economy. We show that these policies, while effective from the perspective of individual countries, might backfire if applied on a global scale. In fact, prudential policies generate a rise in the global supply of savings and a drop in global aggregate demand. Weaker global aggregate demand depresses output in countries at the zero lower bound. Due to this effect, noncooperative financial and fiscal policies might lead to a fall in global output and welfare. ; Luca Fornaro acknowledges financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness, through the Severo Ochoa Programme for Centres of Excellence in R&D (SEV-2015-0563) and grant ECO2016-79823-P (AEI/FEDER, UE), the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement no. 649396, the Cerca Programme (Generalitat de Catalunya) and the Barcelona GSE Seed Grant. Federica Romei acknowledges financial support from the Fellowship Visiting program 2017–2018 at the Banco de España.
The theory of social capital suggests that trust in other individuals (social trust) and trust in institutions are closely related phenomena. People who trust more in other individuals also trust more in institutions, and vice versa. Some scholars argue that trust generates a climate of social cooperation and a sense of collaboration, which in turn promotes interest and participation in institutions. Despite the fact that both social trust and trust in institutions tend to decline when socioeconomic conditions worsen, the theory of social capital rarely takes economic variables into account. The economic crisis in Spain resulted in a paradox: a notable decline in trust in institutions, together with a surprising increase – rather than the expected decrease – in social trust. In this article we analyse the impact of a number of variables on social trust and trust in institutions before and during the economic crisis in Spain. The results confirm that economic factors had greater explanatory power for both types of trust during times of economic crisis, due mainly to increased inequality. However, the classic variables of the theory of social capital, such as how people view democracy or the extent of civic participation, continued to be significant. The data analysed here also highlight the possibility that the two types of trust did not track in a mutually supportive manner due to the emergence of the Movimiento 15M ("15M Movement"), which gave rise to the appearance of new political parties such as Podemos ("We Can"), on the extreme left of the electoral scale.
This article identifies the main global crises that have occurred since 1929 and analyses their causes by focusing on a sample of 12 significant economies. A comparative historical analysis is used to show that major global slumps resulted from a combination of excessive speculation in financial markets and government mishandling of demand-management policies.
The aim of this article is to analyse the trajectory of FASA-Renault during the stagflation crisis. In late 1972, the Spanish government enacted the so-called Ford decrees. The intention was to stimulate specialisation in the European arena by inserting the Spanish subsidiaries within the international strategies of large transnational corporations. In doing so, the effects of the economic crisis were compounded by the restructuring of the sector. The goal is to understand how, in the midst of this situation, FASA-Renault was able to increase production and the size of its workforce, ultimately becoming the leading firm in the sector in terms of production and sales in Spain. This is remarkable, due to the fact that labour force participation in Spain fell by nearly 3 million people from 1974 to 1985. The article argues that FASA-Renault, albeit with nuances, kept its commitment to diversification, neither adopting practices inspired by the production systems of the large Japanese manufacturers nor following the model put forward by the US giants based on large-scale production of a single low- to mid-range car for export.
[eng] This thesis focuses on grassroots practices, meanings and understandings in the context of the Greek economic crisis and austerity restructurings that were unilaterally imposed by hegemonic institutions and Greek governments between 2010 and 2016. I employ a bottom up approach to identify the social, economic, political and cultural shifts and ruptures that the imposition of austerity measures and neoliberal policies provoked in Chalkida, a mid-sized (post) industrial city. I juxtapose mainstream definitions and explanations of crisis with national and place-bound grassroots experiences, practices and understandings in order to establish an inter- scalar interconnection between global processes and local agency. This thesis is based on 18 months of systematic fieldwork that took place between April 2015 and December 2016. Material was collected through participant observation in workplace settings, public spaces and households. Additionally, the research was informed by semi-structured personal and group interviews, as well as many informal conversations in cafes, taverns and open air markets. Building on existing literature on crisis, neoliberalism, scale and power, household transformations, social solidarity and informality, I assess the impact of crisis and austerity on the socio-economic relationships and established livelihood patterns that were severely challenged by it. My research demonstrates that people in a provincial city like Chalkida counterbalanced the austerity crisis's effects on formal income resources and the restructuring of the state and its welfare provisioning. They did so by reinventing traditional structures and practices that had been predominant in the past when resources had also been scarce. I therefore suggest that crisis was understood as a retrograde movement that questioned linear processes and conceptualizations of modernity and progress. Drawing upon historical continuities and ruptures at the local, national and international scales, this dissertation offers a rich ethnographic account of everyday life under the condition of "being in" and "living with" crisis. ; [spa] Esta tesis aborda las prácticas, significados y conceptualizaciones populares en el contexto de la crisis económica griega, y las consiguientes reestructuraciones impuestas por las instituciones hegemónicas mundiales y los gobiernos griegos entre 2010 y 2016. Para ello, parto de un acercamiento "desde abajo" a las transformaciones y rupturas económicas, políticas y culturales que las políticas de neoliberales y las medidas de austeridad han provocado en Chalkida, una ciudad media (post)industrial. Asimismo, con el objetivo de establecer conexiones inter-escalares entre procesos globales y formas de agencia locales, yuxtapongo las definiciones y explicaciones dominantes de "la Crisis" con las experiencias, prácticas y conceptualizaciones subalternas -nacional y localmente situadas. Esta tesis está basada en un trabajo de campo sistemático de 18 meses de duración, entre abril de 2015 y diciembre del 2016. La técnica básica de recogida de información ha sido la observación participante, focalizada en espacios de trabajo, espacios públicos y hogares. Por otro lado, la investigación ha sido enriquecida con entrevistas semi-estructuradas individuales y grupales; así como con conversaciones informales en cafés, tabernas y mercados al aire libre. El análisis del impacto de la crisis y el régimen de austeridad en la (re)configuración de las relaciones socio-económicas y los modos de vida en el caso de estudio, es abordado desde una perspectiva comparativa y teórica que transita las áreas temáticas de la crisis, el neoliberalismo, las relaciones entre escala(s) y poder, la transformación de los hogares, la solidaridad social y la informalidad. Esta investigación demuestra que las personas en una ciudad de provincia como Chalkida contestan de diversas formas los efectos de la crisis de austeridad sobre sus ingresos formales, así como sobre la restructuración del estado y las políticas de aprovisionamiento y bienestar social. Y para ello reinventan estructuras y practices tradicionales que había predominado en el pasado, cuando había existido también una escasez de recursos. En este sentido, mi investigación propone que la crisis ha sido conceptualizada desde estas posiciones subalternas como un movimiento retrógrado que cuestiona la idea de linealidad procesual, y las concepciones de la modernidad y el progreso. En sus explotación de las continuidades históricas y las rupturas a escala local, nacional e internacional, esta tesis doctoral ofrece una rica descripción y análisis etnográficos de la vida cotidiana en condiciones de "estar en" y "vivir en" crisis.
After a discussion of the background and origins of the crisis, the term "political economy" is defined and the political shaping of markets is discussed. There is no market that is not politically shaped. Next, Basic Income (a payment made by the state to each full member or accredited resident of a society, regardless of whether he or she wishes to engage in paid employment, or is rich or poor-that is, independently of any other sources of income and irrespective of cohabitation arrangements in the domestic sphere) is described as a component of a political economy which is very different from that applied over the past four decades. Finally, an account of philosophical foundations of Basic Income offering a number of conceptual distinctions between the different forms of liberalism and republicanism is followed by some closing reflections on immigration and Basic Income.
Aquest treball de fi de grau explica i analitza el fenomen de l'economia col·laborativa, tenint en compte l'explicació del concepte i dels motors que han impulsat l'economia col·laborativa, que són principalment econòmics, tecnològics, socials i polítics, com ara la cultura d'Internet i la crisi econòmica i de valors i la transició de la propietat a l'accés als productes i serveis que ha provocat la xarxa. A més, s'analitzen diferents variables en torn l'economia col·laborativa, com la distinció entre les iniciatives comercials i les empreses sense ànim de lucre, i l'efecte que poden tenir aquests models de negoci en el futur del món laboral. ; Este trabajo de fin de grado explica y analiza el fenómeno de la economía colaborativa, teniendo en cuenta la explicación del concepto y de los motores que han impulsado la economía colaborativa, que son principalmente económicos, tecnológicos, sociales y políticos, como la cultura de Internet y la crisis económica y de valores y la transición de la propiedad al acceso a los productos y servicios que ha provocado la red. Además, se analizan diferentes variables en torno la economía colaborativa, como la distinción entre las iniciativas comerciales y las empresas sin ánimo de lucro y el efecto que pueden tener estos modelos de negocio en el mundo del trabajo. ; This final degree academic work explains and analises the phenomenon of the collaborative economy, explaining the concept and the engines that have driven the collaborative economy, which are mainly economic, technological, social and political, as Internet culture and the economic and values crisis and the transition from ownership to access to products and services the network caused. In addition, different variables are analyzed around collaborative economy, as the distinction between commercial and non profit businesses and how this new business models will change the future of work.
