Spain's economy sank deeper into recession in the second quarter, its central bank said on Monday, as investors spooked by a funding crisis in its regions pushed the country ever closer to a full bailout.
Economic output shrank by 0.4 percent in the three months from April to June having slumped by 0.3 percent in the first quarter, the Bank of Spain said in its monthly report.And to think just last month they got $100 billion while the common Spaniard got screwed -- and this is the thanks they get.
But as I said a theme:
The official poverty rate will rise from 15.1 percent in 2010, climbing as high as 15.7 percent. Several predicted a more modest gain, but even a 0.1 percentage point increase would put poverty at the highest level since 1965.Things suck, let's make them suckier:
Steven Pearlstein at the Washington Post wrote approvingly over the weekend of an effort by the nation’s leading CEOs to install a deficit regime that would demolish the social safety net.It is almost as if there was an alternative agenda here...
...the austerity game also has winners. Cutting or eliminating government programs that benefit the less advantaged has long been an ideological goal of conservatives. Doing so also generates a tidy windfall for the corporate class, as government services are privatized and savings from austerity pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest citizens.And I have to give some credit to Mitt Romney, people like him ARE building this.
And after the election when it comes to both candidates and social security they may be disparate members of the same team.
[cross-posted at Firedoglake]