Shot in the Dark

Spanish Bonds On The Costa Brava

Once upon a time, when I worked at a radio station whose initial rhymed with “Ay Ess Tee Pee”, we went without a general manager for six months.

In that time the station’s ratings doubled.

Eventually, in their good time, Hubbard Broadcasting sent us a GM.  Who promptly screwed everything up, where it stayed until the dawn of Limbaugh.

I’m not saying that kind of thing happens all the time with businesses.

But it certainly is associated with civilized people who observe the law, in regard to “government”.

Spain, after the better part of a decade of stagnancy in squalor under a socialist government, is bouncing back strongly:

The eurozone’s fourth-largest economy is on track to expand around 3% this year, outpacing the International Monetary Fund’s projections for France, Germany and the U.S.

The landed punditry believes that is inconsistent with the fact  Spain hasn’t had a functioning  government in nearly a year:

Spain has been without a full-fledged government since December. Doubts about who will form the next one have persisted since the divided parliament elected that month failed to install a prime minister and was dissolved. A new parliament, elected in June, is also deadlocked among four major parties, none close to a majority.

It is – to borrow a phrase that the Obama administration has turned into a national punchline it – “unexpected”.

But only if you’re the kind of person that believes “Brexit” is going to send the UK back to the Stone Age, and that raising taxes fight recessions.


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11 responses to “Spanish Bonds On The Costa Brava”

  1. bikebubba Avatar
    bikebubba

    I am reminded of a study or book somewhere that pointed out that historically, worker/manager ratios in Europe were much higher (22:1 or so) than in the U.S. (7:1) because the Europeans still respected the craftsmanship traditions of their workers. Hence they needed fewer managers because the behavior of the craftsmen was self-policing.

    Wish I remembered that book name! But that said, it has a lot to say to us today with regards to both employment and government. People can sometimes figure out what they want, believe it or not.

  2. Loren Avatar
    Loren

    But the Bureaucracy continues on!

  3. jdege Avatar
    jdege

    I’m strongly of the opinion that the reason our economy did so well in the nineties was that Clinton and the Republican Congress spent so much time fighting with each other that they got nothing done … and we were all the better for it.

  4. Seflores Avatar
    Seflores

    Big reason the economy did well in the 90’s was the exploitation of information technology which the central planners / government didn’t have much to do with.

  5. Isidor Ottavio Baldassare Fosco Avatar
    Isidor Ottavio Baldassare Fosco

    Costa Brava? That reminds me that I have been Bento Guzman of Sulaco in Costa Guana for far too long. The hounds grow close.
    Introducing ISIDOR OTTAVIO BALDASSARE FOSCO, Count of the Holy Roman Empire, Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Brazen Crown, Perpetual Arch-Master of the Rosicrucian Masons of Mesopotamia; Attached (in Honorary Capacities) to Societies Musical, Societies Medical, Societies Philosophical, and Societies General Benevolent, throughout Europe; etc. etc. etc.

  6. […] History Museum Shark Tank: Trump’s Plan To “Drain The Swamp” Shot In The Dark: Spanish Bonds On The Costa Brava The Jawa Report: Latina Sexually Assaults NPR’s David Greene On Live Radio, also, Revenge Of […]

  7. Mitch Berg Avatar
    Mitch Berg

    Well, bienvenuto, Signore Fosco.

  8. Isidor Ottavio Baldassare Fosco Avatar
    Isidor Ottavio Baldassare Fosco

    Benvenuto!
    Being a knight of the Holy Roman Emperor puts me plainly on the side of the Ghibellinies and against the Guelphs, but those unfortunate days of strife, battle, and exile are long past. The Guelphs have been defeated, and those we have suffered to live have been scattered to the four winds!
    In any case, and especially if you have have Guelph sympathies, Signore Berg, the title is mere honorific, I assure you.

  9. kel Avatar
    kel

    IOBF: “That reminds me that I have been Bento Guzman of Sulaco in Costa Guana for far too long.”

    For the longest time I thought you were dead and SitD was your medium.

  10. Deplorable Swiftee Avatar
    Deplorable Swiftee

    Benvenuto Don Fosco

  11. justplainangry Avatar
    justplainangry

    Unintended consequences?

    IOBF, why don’t we just call you Signore Frog? Or Pepe for short.

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