“Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both “- Benjamin Franklin

I remember a few years ago in Italy, amid a corruption scandal, that a local politician was asked about an apartment in Rome that he had been given illegally, and he replied: “If I found out who it was that paid for the apartment, I will sue him”. This episode springs to my mind when I read about the scandals in Spain and the justifications from the side of different politicans. Continue reading The Price of Corruption →

“Debt is the slavery of the free” Publilius Syrus

In Spain we have spent weeks hearing the supposed benefits of “relaxing deficit targets” and listening to many regional governments talk about “sharing the funds” as if debt was a donation and not a liability. Then, suddenly, the Troika arrived in Madrid and reminded us of what no one wanted to acknowledge. That debts have to be repaid and that there are no unconditional loans. Now, after a lost decade inflating the political spending burden, Spain faces more problems because the country has delayed for too long the inevitable reform of the Public Administration, and the bursting of the housing and civil work bubbles probably leads to a much more challenging solution. Continue reading Brussels and the Curse of Lender’s Generosity →

This article was published in Spanish in El Confidencial

“A tax loophole is something That benefits the other guy. If it benefits you, it is tax reform.” Russell B. Long
“A war on tax havens is nothing but an Attempt to Increase taxes to prop up bankrupt welfare states, to continue feeding the leviathan” Charles Gave