castanyes blaves

The main Spanish stock index, the IBEX 35, is down 21 per cent this year, versus 16 per cent for the FTSE 100. Also, OECD projections for economic growth this year and next are better for the UK. And the Spanish construction industry has already cut 300,000 jobs, which puts the 5,000 or so lost in the UK this week into perspective. (The Keynesian joke here is that some Spanish construction workers will find re-employment demolishing the oversupply of homes, as local powers react by discovering the absence of proper building permits.)