12 Nov 2012 1:53 PM:

Should Spain have one centralised government?

It depends - if you extend the question to "Should the world have one centralised government?" the reasons against it might become more apparent. It is a bit academic anyway, since as long as they are part of the eurozone both the Spanish government and the regional governments are going to find themselves with ever decreasing powers. Certain things might best be controlled on a large/national scale (e.g. transport and energy infrastructures) but that's not necessarily the same as having one centralised government - they could be done privately. One shouldn't forget that government is essentially about making and upholding laws, and protecting/defending its people. If people decide they want the government to provide additional services then fair enough, but that's optional, it's not the defining feature of what makes a government.

Regarding the issue of civil service workers, it is difficult to do direct comparisons with the UK because some professions such as state school teachers are counted as civil servants in Spain, but not in the UK. Also it doesn't necessarily reflect the effective size of the state - you can still have a large state, with plenty of centralised control, but with few civil servants because it contracts out all the work to private companies.

Thread: Should Spain have one centralised Government?

--------------------------------------

02 Aug 2012 3:17 PM:

What did the British do to ruin Blackpool?

Thread: Info on Finestrat (nr Benidorm) please!

--------------------------------------

02 Aug 2012 1:42 PM:

The British didn't ruin Benidorm. Nor any other Spanish town for that matter.

Thread: Info on Finestrat (nr Benidorm) please!

--------------------------------------

11 Jul 2012 10:18 AM:

The governments of the USA and Switzerland have also taken various measures to devalue their respective currencies (not sure about Australia) although perhaps not as drastic as the UK. I'm not particularly recommending sterling, in fact I wouldn't recommend that people play the currency markets at all, since nobody really knows what is already "priced in", and it can take time to "get out" of a falling currency. You could use the argument that the UK has already used up most of its firepower in devaluing its currency, while the others have greater scope to devalue their currencuies further, but that would be speculating and as I said, speculating on the currency markets isn't for most people. For most people on this forum sterling is convenient and also a currency they can use as legal tender if they go back to the UK. All things being equal, it does have a certain advantage.

 

This message was last edited by Chopera on 11/07/2012.

This message was last edited by Chopera on 11/07/2012.
Thread: What would happen to a Euro mortgage, if Spain dropped the Euro?

--------------------------------------

10 Jul 2012 11:01 PM:

 @D_B_S wrote:

"explain why its best to keep cash in Sterling when the government have a policy which devalues Stg against other currencies?"

Most western governments have a policy of devaluing their currency at the moment. The UK government happened to be quicker off the mark in slashing interest rates and QE, but the eurozone will soon catch up.

Thread: What would happen to a Euro mortgage, if Spain dropped the Euro?

--------------------------------------