Introduction The 2008 global financial crisis was widely considered the worst economic financial crisis since the 1930’s and the Great Depression. This crisis was a major problem for nation states across the globe and exposed the interdependence that can easily result in a systemic international banking and credit crisis. While the crisis is six years in the past, we are still plagued by many of the long-term effects of the crisis such as extraordinarily high unemployment, austerity measures that decreased government budgets as a method to ensure government solvency, rapidly increasing poverty, and worsening economic inequality, one ramification of all of this has been the growing social and political discontent across Spain.
Current Situation:
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In response to the crisis, the government enacted strict austerity measures that consisted of tax hikes and draconian cuts to public expenditures, especially spending on health and education. While the tax base has contracted since the crisis, we have seen government revenue increase from its low point in 2009 because of the 2010 tax code reform that increased the value added tax (V.A.T.) from 16% to 18% and income tax 19% & 21%. The cut to education and healthcare of €10bn a year by our government have been met with much hostility by the Spanish public, although the cut may prevent the necessity for a financial bailout as we attempt to meet European Union deficit targets. The public debt to GDP ratio has reached above 90%, an infamous threshold that, once passed, our country is sure to see a contraction in our annual GDP growth by as much as one percent. In 2012, we saw a sharp decrease in the investment in public infrastructure. However, as our economy is picking up, we have reinstated some of the funds necessary to keep our infrastructure functioning …show more content…
Moreover, since the 2008 financial crisis income inequality increased considerably in Spain, where the Gini coefficient (a measure of income inequality) increased from 0.31 to 0.34. Poverty is also increasing throughout Spain, especially among low skilled or self-employed workers. In 2011, Spain responded to the failure of the Socialist Party leadership to handle the economic crisis by electing our People’s Party to manage the economic recovery. We must address the multitude of anti-austerity protests we have seen across Spain over the past few years. Our government was voted in with a promise of economic recovery and revitalization. However, the progress we have seen in declining unemployment and increased GDP growth has done little for a majority of citizens who are still out of work and without crucial social
Throughout the years, “ U.S income inequality has been increasing steadily since the 1970s and now has reached levels not seen since 1928” (Source A).
December of 2007 saw the beginning of the worst economic downturn in memorable history; not since the end of the Great Depression in 1939 has the world seen such a devastating and long-lasting economic breakdown. The Great Recession shook the public’s faith in the capitalist system and silenced those who claimed a modern economy was impervious to another broad collapse like the one in 1929. Discontent and mistrust from the public has built not only with large corporations and the financial sector, but also with the government whose legislature and policies in recent decades seem to coincide with the interests of private corporate power-houses. These lenient policies contributed directly to the recession that affected individuals across the globe. Stunted wages, increased poverty,
Since the 1970s, Venezuela has gone from being South America’s richest nation into a nouveau-poor society in search of an identity. Once known as the Saudis of the West, Venezuelans have seen their economic fortunes decline in exact proportion to the general fall in world oil prices. Even so, Venezuela’s many problems were hidden from view until relatively recently, when severity measures heralded the sort of economic crises so painfully familiar to other Latin American countries. Runaway inflation, currency devaluations and even food riots have marked this new phase in Venezuelan history, to which the country is still trying to adjust.
Glusing, Jens. "Venezuela President Maduro Faces Economic Distress and Protests." SPIEGEL ONLINE. Der Spiegel, 26 Feb. 2014. Web. 28 Mar. 2014.
Belsie, Laurent. “The Causes of Rising Income Inequality.”.N.p., 5 Mar. 2009. Web. 30 Apr. 2014
La Movida began when Dictator Francisco Franco died in Madrid on November 19th, 1975. Franco’s 36-year reign had been one in which rigid public and church laws preserved the traditional role of family, enforced formal relations between the sexes, and controlled expression in the press and media. Eager to distance themselves from Franco’s repression and censorship, Spain quickly began the move to democracy called the “Transition”. King Juan Carlos I helped the transition by quickly naming Adolfo Suárez Prime Minister. Spain’s first democratic vote in over 40 years took place in 1977, and a new constitution was signed in 1978. That constitution is still in place now. In 1979, Enrique Tierno Galván became the mayor of Madrid, the capital of Spain. In this position he had a lot of power to help or hinder La Movida. His choices helped Spain to move past its repressive past. Then, in 1982 the Socialist PSOE party, headed by Felipe González, was voted in by a landslide and became Spain’s first leftist government since the 1930s.
Income inequality in the United States has increased and decreased throughout history, but in the recent years, the widening gap has become a serious issue. Income inequality is usually measured by Gini coefficient. According to this method coefficient varies between 0 and 100; while 0 represents complete equality (income is distributed equally among all the population of the country), 100 represents complete inequality (only one person receives all the country’s income, while the rest of the population receives nothing). According to the Census of Bureau, the official Gini coefficient in the U.S. was 46.9 in 2010. This is way higher than the all-time low coefficient of 38.6 set in 1968 (qtd. in Babones).
Income inequality in the United States, as of 2007, has reached levels not seen since 1928. In 1928, the top one percent received nearly 24% of all income within the United States (Volscho & Kelly, 2012). This percentage fell to nearly nine percent in 1975, but has risen to 23.5% as of 2007 (Volscho & Kelly, 2012). Meanwhile, in 2007 (see
La Movida began when Dictator Francisco Franco died in Madrid on November 19th, 1975. Franco’s 36-year reign had been one in which rigid public and church laws preserved the traditional role of family, enforced formal relations between the sexes, and controlled expression in the press and media. Eager to distance themselves from Franco’s repression and censorship, Spain quickly began the move to democracy called the “Transition”. King Juan Carlos I helped the transition by quickly naming Adolfo Suárez Prime Minister. Spain’s first democratic vote in over 40 years took place in 1977, and a new constitution was signed in 1978. That constitution is still in place now. In 1979, Enrique Tierno Galván became the mayor of Madrid, the capital of Spain. In this position he had a lot of power to help or hinder La Movida. His choices helped Spain to move past its repressive past. Then, in 1982, the Socialist PSOE party, headed by Felipe González, was voted in by a landslide and became Spain’s first leftist government since the 1930s.
Revival following the crisis just when the vulnerabilities in the financial sector have been addressed without endangering the fiscal sustainability. The crisis resolution actions generally involve costly government reorganization of private sector’s and the financial sector’s balance sheet. This can have a long-term negative effect on the public debt levels. Besides,
This essay will examine the causes of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis (GFC) from a Marxist perspective. This paper will specifically examine and critique how Marx’s Theory of Crisis can be applied to understand and interpret the underlying structural causes of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis.
Food shortages, high inflation rates, protest, and violence: one sees these headlines in a Google search of Venezuela today. All around the country, there are long lines to buy simple necessities, like bread and milk. High inflation rates lead to shortages of food supplies, which increase frustration leading to protests in the streets and, sadly, an increase of violence. The protests and violence result from the inability of Venezuelans to provide the most basic human needs for their families. Sky-rocketing inflation rates in Venezuela are the result of Hugo Chavez, the former socialist and revolutionary leader of the country, and his administration. While in power, Chavez was so consumed with fixing the social issues in Venezuela, that other aspects of the country were ignored – like the economy. In 2014, Venezuela is left with a destroyed economy, angry people, and a government that is trying to fix the many issues the country currently faces; although the government is committed to finding solutions, the people of Venezuela do not feel the government is fixing the problems fast enough.
Historically, financial crises have been followed by a wave of governments defaulting on their debt obligations. The global economic history has experienced sovereign debt crisis such as in Latin America during the 80s, in Russia at the end of the 90s and in Argentina in the beginning of the 00s. The European debt crisis is the most significant of its kind that the economic world was seen started from 2010. Financial crises tend to lead to, or exacerbate, sharp economic downturns, low government revenues, widening government deficits, and high levels of debt, pushing many governments into default. Greece is currently facing such a sovereign debt crisis and Europe’s most indebted country despite its surplus in the early 2000s. Greece accumulated high levels of debt during the decade before the crisis, when the capital markets were highly liquid. As the crisis has unfolded, and capital markets have become more illiquid, Greece may no longer be able to roll over its maturing debt obligations. Investment by both the private and the public sectors has ground to a halt. Public sector debt has increased substantially as the state had to rely on official assistance to payroll expenses, fiscal deficit and fund social payments.
Since the turn of the millennium Ireland witnessed unprecedented growth, in stark contrast to the economic hardship of the 1900’s. Ireland became one of the most prosperous countries in Europe during the 2000’s. Times were good for Ireland as unemployment was low, growth and GDP was growing year on year and inflation was constant. In 2008, all this was to change and Ireland witnessed the worst recession in its history. The banking crisis, the construction sector and poor regulation were the major contributors in the Irish recession. A fiscal crisis erupted, NAMA (National Assets Management Agency) was established to secure bad loans in banks, and a EU/IMF bailout was agreed which burdened Irish taxpayers. I will explore the causes and consequences of the crisis in this essay.
Social Scientific research helps us understand why certain structures exist in society and what the ramifications of these structures are. Theories are presented to aid the analyses of our systems and policies which often result in reform. Social Scientist Jurgen Habermas presented a collection of crisis-tendency theories. This essay will focus specifically on his theory of Legitimation Crisis Tendencies. The concept of 'legitimation' is a central tenet of Habermas’s crisis theory. It can be argued that Habermas’s use of the term is similar to that presented by well known social theorist Talcott Parsons in his early work(Smit, 2007). However, Habermas's original concepts do provide an different insight into how we perceive the role of The State. The role of The State is vital in an advanced capitalist...