- Dec 5, 2010
- 95,622
- 32,685
- 2,290
Well we now have no Jews, that is a plus, Butterfly?Is that 400 year Spanish Inquisition massacre stilling going strong, mariposa?
And no money. We seem to be doing well in that regard. Perhaps if you had some Jews you would have a far more robust economy.
Barring an economic bailout of mammoth proportions, the economy of Spain is completely and totally doomed. The socialist government of Spain is drowning in debt, unemployment is running rampant and everywhere you turn there are major economic problems. So will Spain be the next Greece? No. When the economy of Spain implodes it is going to be a whole lot worse for the world economy. The economy of Spain is more than four times the size of the economy of Greece. Spain accounts for 11.5 percent of eurozone GDP while Greece only accounts for approximately 2.5 percent. Spain is the 4th largest economy in the 16 nation eurozone and it is the 10th largest economy in the world. If the economy of Spain fails it will cause a shockwave that will be felt in every corner of the globe. In fact, there are quite a few analysts that believe if Spain defaults it would ultimately lead to the breakup of the eurozone.
Explaining Israel's Economy
In the past year, Israel's economy has managed to defy both the global economic crisis and the worsening security situation, posting an annualized 4.4 percent growth in the last quarter of 2009. Yuval Steinitz, Israel's 51-year-old finance minister, a philosopher by profession and a close ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, claims much of the credit. Steinitz sat down recently with NEWSWEEK's Dan Ephron to explain his approach and the challenges Israel faces.
When the crisis hit, Israel did the opposite of the rest of the world. You raised taxes and didn't inject money into the system the way other countries did. What made you think that would work when your economy is similar to other developed countries?
"Israels economy has weathered extremely difficult periods in the past, even when government debt was more burdensome and the balance of payments more fragile... The governments ample access to credit is a crucial underpinning for the countrys high ratings given its susceptibility to shocks." - Moody's
Israel's Economic Indicators