Mr. Fuld y el nacionalismo

Un gran amigo me mandaba hoy una referencia a Mr. Fuld por sus declaraciones respecto a los problemas del nacionalismo en Europa. Declaraciones que se alinean perfectamente con mis propias ideas. El fin de los nacionalismos viene por la proliferación de mercados capitales globales.

Hay, en cualquier caso, espacio para la preocupación. Si bien en la línea liberal de Friedman creo que los mercados corrigen no solo la pobreza sino todo tipo de injusticias; el problema radica en el tiempo necesario para que los cambios se materialicen. Mercados tan pequeños como el español estarán siempre a disposición de los designios de otros y más ahora que la fragmentación regionalista ha cobrado nuevo impulso gracias a un gobierno débil y económicamente incompetente. Sólo un modelo económico fuerte y viable podría salvar el proceso de empobrecimiento al que asistimos.

Nota:

Por si hay dudas sobre la competencia del gobierno en materia de economía adjunto el último análisis de The Economist (Aug. 06) respecto a España:

[…]

Government focus on economic policy remains limited. There are three reasons for this. First, the magnitude of the political and constitutional challenges facing Spain has absorbed most of the government’s energies. Second, given the amount of political capital that will be needed to deal with these issues, the government is reluctant to initiate reforms that would inevitably require the expenditure of additional political capital in confronting interest groups. Finally, a protracted period of strong economic growth has induced an element of complacency.

However, this passivity in the face of huge and growing economic imbalances. most visible in a current-account deficit that exceeded 10% of GDP in the first quarter of 2006.is beginning to generate concern among international organisations. In the past two months the European Commission, the OECD and the IMF have all flagged the risks now facing the Spanish economy and highlighted the need for a more pro-active policy agenda. The most pressing issue is the huge rise in household debt, which has been associated with an unprecedented housing boom. This has taken place against a backdrop of rising global interest rates, which exposes the 90% of Spanish mortgage holders on variable-rate repayment terms to an increase in debt-servicing costs. Given that house prices are now overvalued by between 24% and 32%, according to a study published by the Bank of Spain in July, the conditions for a collapse in the property market exist. Of less immediate concern is the steady erosion in Spanish international competitiveness, caused primarily by a combination of extremely low productivity growth and relatively high inflation.

[…]