Obrigado Tiago!

(sorry, this post will be in Portuguese)

Obrigado Tiago, por teres publicado o manifesto do Movimento 15M, em Espanha. ( http://ovoodoflamingo.blogspot.com/2011/05/o-que-anda-agitar-sociedade-espanhola.html )

Confesso que me identifico com partes dele. Afinal, também eu estou farto da corrupção, farto da lentidão da justiça, farto de ver boas leis que não são para todos, farto de não saber exactamente quem são os meus representantes políticos para os poder responsabilizar, por falar nisso, farto de não ver os políticos responsabilizados pelos seus actos, farto da incompetência, da lentidão, farto de ver os meus impostos a pagarem toda esta inoperância, ineficiência e desonestidade. Farto!

4 quick paragraphs on Europe

I really think that many of the comments we usually read on press or hear from most of European politicians are missing the big picture.

The truth is Europe is really becoming less and less relevant, as D&E economies grow to maximise and extent their potential. Many of those economies have bigger, younger populations, still have good natural resources, many have good education systems (at least for an elite) and are eager to grow. And, have unified economies and political systems for hundreds of millions of consumers. (and are becoming politically stable, reducing the risk of investment)

Europe is made of small countries (even Germany), fragmented, and without unified economies. This hinders Europe's growth potential and also the leveraging any company might have whilst operating in Europe. Hence, it is probably limiting Return On Investment in the continent. Which in term will jeopardize Europe's economy position (and, in due time, our individual living quality and patterns - sorry).

The only way to counteract this? Unify economies and leverage the power of more than 300 Million consumers, with modern consuming, investment, educational patterns. And we need a single currency and bigger political integration for that.

Softer landing

Probably influenced by the results of the initial programm in Greece, but also recognising the need to protect and fuel growth (at the core of Portugal's problems), the FMI intervention seems to be less harsh than the Greek one. Lets wait to see if this is really the case - and give me a bit of time to have a thorough look at the effective document...

http://economia.publico.pt/noticia/conheca-as-principais-medidas-previstas-no-acordo_1492628

A time bomb

The high unemployment rate in several european countries, especially amongst the youth, is a ticking time bomb for democracy stability. It is a problem we should all really start working on from now with real, deep structural measures.

http://economia.publico.pt/noticia/espanha-a-beira-dos-cinco-milhoes-de-desempregados_1491838

A partial view from a budget perspective

Accurate set of recent Portuguese budget history. Still, it doesn't take into account the main problem - the sluggish to null growth of the country and the absence of a strategy to bring it back to life.

http://economia.publico.pt/Noticia/erros-proprios-e-ma-fortuna-colocam-o-pais-nas-maos-do-fmi_1491747

A free lunch doesn't exist! Does it?

You go online. You find a bank that gets you a 6% interest rate on your deposit. That is strongly above current interest rates - do you believe it is risk free? Is there any kind of information telling you it is risk free? No? Then, you should take in the risk, as you are taking in the interest rate.

Still, what is a basic of investment banking and economics is not being addressed by The Netherlands and the UK on the Icesave issue. Those countries are demanding full compensation from deposits from Iceland, for their national investors - instead of the guaranteed percentage each deposit holder should get.

Am I wrong, or are they trying to get a free lunch?

Now is the time

Portugal, now is the time! It is the time to start fixing our problems and do everything right - go for it!