Central Perk

joi, 6 septembrie 2012

We the People: 3 Million Signatures Later

Your Daily Snapshot for
Thurs., September 6, 2012

We the People: 3 Million Signatures Later

Last year, the White House launched a new tool called We the People, offering a powerful and simple way to petition the Obama Administration to take action on a range of issues. If a petition gathers enough signatures, policy officials review it and publish an official response.

From the beginning, We the People's popularity exceeded our expectations. More than 600,000 signatures were received in the first 11 days and within two weeks, 81 petitions had reached the initial signature threshold of 5,000 signatures within 30 days. Raising the threshold to 25,0000 signatures within 30 days allowed us to balance our resources and focus on providing quality response and follow-up engagement. Even still, since October 3, 2011, we've had an additional 30 petitions cross the new threshold.

Check out key facts and figures about the We the People platform.

Ensuring Client Collaboration Through Agile Marketing

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 08:04 PM PDT

Posted by Mackenzie Fogelson

I’m probably a little late for the agile marketing train. It’s only in the past few weeks that I’ve been reading everything I can about the concept, and I've been working to integrate some of the ideas I’ve discovered into our existing daily practices at my company, Mack Web Solutions; I can already see that it is going to be a very powerful approach for us. Agile has been such a huge part of my last few weeks that I'd like to share my newfound appreciation and takeaways, and hopefully you'll fall just as hard as I did for this wonderful practice.

Agile marketing is not rocket science

Maybe I’m missing some hidden depths, but I think the simplicity of agile is the point. It’s meant to be extremely practical, easy to grasp, and begging for you to take it for a spin. Who doesn’t want a company that can adapt quickly to change, provide amazing experiences for their team and their clients, measure the results of their efforts with actual data, and efficiently create remarkable products?

When I first started reading about the concept, I realized that Mack Web was a natural fit for agile marketing. At our current size of four, we are inherently collaborative and can be extremely flexible with how we work. I can certainly see how it will play a significant role in shaping our company in the years and team members to come.

What the heck is it?â€¨

Simply put, agile marketing centers around the customer. It’s a small shift in focus and perspective, but it really does mean big changes for how you work with your team and your customers.

Based off the methods of agile software development, agile marketing pulls together a variety of different elements to create a sleek, flexible, data-driven approach to any project. There are a lot of technical aspects to it: shorter production cycles, continual testing, lots of analysis and feedback. But the underlying philosophy of the thing is, in a word: people.

Agile marketing forces you to break down the barriers that normally come with departments, systems, and processes. Instead of letting your processes drive (as I have now realized we are guilty of doing), the agile process is people-oriented, both internally and externally. It is the interaction among these people that contributes to success (which makes a lot more sense than asking that of a systematized process).

Agility in marketing centers on the understanding that clients and employees are people with different skill sets, different outlooks, and different limitations. Agile encourages groups to find a way to make differences work in a complementary (as opposed to adversarial) way, and then ground the process in the indisputable facts of solid data. All you’re left with is pure win.

Encouraging the individuals on your team to collaborate fosters creativity and communication, allowing them to deliver exceptional products, services, and valuable results each day. That collaboration, along with the transparency that true teamwork requires, is what makes agile successful.

See...Agility. Teamwork. They go together (except that there's no Denzel).

Being agile is using what you've gotâ€¨

The beauty of agile marketing is that it is, by definition, very adaptable. The entire intent is to enable you to run things smoothly and efficiently with the pieces you have in place.

That means that even adopting agile as a new method can be done with agility. Our company has long been process-driven because we got both results and peace of mind that way. But as we’ve grown more self-aware, we’ve realized that part of the reason our processes work is that we were subconsciously enacting some agile principles almost by default.

Now that we’ve come to this realization, we’re slowly transitioning our conscious process to match. This approach is working because, honestly, throwing all of our current systems out the window at once was very much a baby-bathwater situation. It’s also a great way to make sure that business tanks, that our clients feel insecure and unsatisfied, and that our office descends into chaos. Not good.

And definitely not agile.

So, slowly but surely, we’re using the principles of agile marketing as a filter for our internal processes: does this method actually work for all clients? For the individuals on our team? Does it allow us to easily change course mid-stream or does it put us between a rock and a hard place?

So far, so good.

Agile and your 'team'

With agile marketing, even the concept of your ‘team’ takes on a new meaning. For example, instead of maintaining the walls of separate departments like SEO, design, link building, social media, and content generation, everyone works together as a unified whole. And, not just your team, but with your client’s team as well. For us, this was extremely important.

My discovery of agile marketing came at a perfect time. As we transition our clients away from their traditional understanding of SEO, we’ve also started looking for new clients who understand that the work we do is demanding and goes beyond just keyword research and link building. To actually deliver real company stuff, help them build relationships in their online community, and work towards their business objectives, we rely on their involvement in the process.

Internally, we’ve established a highly collaborative environment; we thrive as a team. Our ideal clients embrace the spirit of participation and are willing to engage with us, to be active and responsive, and to grasp the magnitude of what it will take to succeed.

What we have found (and there’s no surprise here) is that in order to achieve results, the client has to be on board. We truly integrate ourselves into the client’s world. We learn everything there is to know about their company. We become familiar with their customers’ pain points and challenges. We solve issues that save them time and money. We can’t do this without complete participation from the client. For us, client collaboration is imperative for customer satisfaction and success. It’s also a fundamental principle of agile marketing.

How agile is helping to solve client collaboration challenges

â€¨Agile has helped us to solve a common problem that we were having when it came to things like ongoing implementation of our content and social media marketing efforts. At the outset, we explained that it was an inherently collaborative process and our clients would smile and nod and say they understood. Then we would all sign a nice, simple agreement stating that we would, jointly, undertake their ongoing implementation and they would pay us for it.

A few months later when we had no results to show because we could never get the client to hold up their side of the deal, or because they were expecting more than we were able to provide within the confines of the agreed-upon budget, no one was happy.

So, we decided to really take to heart the agile ideas of transparency, flexibility, communication, individual abilities, and collaboration right from the outset.

And that’s why we’ve been trying this

Before we even go under contract (we’re talking acquisition phase), we have found that this has really helped:

Why we think it worksâ€¨

This approach is purely transparent. It helps the client to understand exactly what is expected of them, what they are committing to, and what they can expect from us.

This also provides a perfect opportunity to discuss budget (remember, we’re not even under contract yet). The level that we’re showing here requires the client to contribute approximately 10 hours of work to achieve desired results. If the client cannot dedicate the internal resources necessary to handle this volume (and they have the luxury of a larger budget), we can take on more and reduce the workload on their internal team.

Transparency is necessary for successful collaboration

Transparency in Agile Marketing â€¨To us, this approach is very agile not only because it’s transparent, but it satisfies the human element and client-centered approach. We understand that every company is made up of people with different skill sets, schedules, and personalities. We have found that people respond well when they understand what is expected of them. When they agree up front to commit to the work, then we have the permission to push and hold them accountable. Remember that with agile, the client is a part of your internal team, not separate from it.

This level of transparency has made an enormous difference in the type of clients that we are attracting. (By which we mean, we’re starting to pull in those we actually want to work with). It has been essential to the success of the projects we are working on and certainly with the relationships we’re building. By defining these tasks before the project gets started, everyone involved knows what they’re signing up for. And, even more importantly, they know that there is a lot more involved than "SEO."

Once we get under contract, what we do (and what the client does) on a daily basis is obviously a lot more involved than this (we reveal those details in their content and social media marketing strategy). Starting with an agile strategy is what ensures that expectations are clear. We’re setting everyone up for success.

â€¨As for flexibility, we frequently have clients who start out with good intentions in terms of their participation and then realize how big the commitment (once they’re actually staring at it in-house). With all the tasks spelled out in advance, it becomes pretty easy to reallocate responsibility based on who is best prepared to take it on. No plan survives the first encounter, but a sufficiently fluid plan allows for rapid adaptability.

Which is, really, just another way of saying agility.

Agile is different for everyone

There’s no right way to integrate agile marketing. The concepts are there for you to mold and shape into the right fit for your company and your customers. Agile marketing at Distilled is going to look different from what we do with it at Mack Web. That doesn’t mean either of us are doing it better. It’s just how it fits our specific companies. Agile marketing isn’t really agile unless it works for you, your relationships, your personality, and your culture. (And just as you and your stuff are different from us and our stuff, so too will your version of agile be.)

Are you on the agile train?

What’s your journey been like with agile?â€¨ Have you integrated pieces into your company? How’s that working for you?

Certainly there’s a lot more to agile than I’ve explained here, but this has been our journey so far. We’re also working on improving our weekly meetings and as the owner, I’m learning how to get out of the way. Call it agile, or call it whatever you’d like. It’s inspiring us to look at what we do in a whole new way so that we can do things better, provide more value for our clients, and enjoy the work that we do each day.

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Wednesday Webinar Series

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 03:37 AM PDT

Posted by Abe Schmidt

Hello Mozzers!

In an attempt to provide future awesomeness, the Help Team has combined super powers to introduce a new series of informational webinars. Starting next week, we will be launching our Wednesday Webinar series!

In each webinar, an SEOmoz team member will take 30 minutes to dig into a tool and answer questions from community members on the spot. Each webinar will cover a different SEOmoz tool and how you can apply it to your inbound marketing strategy.

Below are the topics for our upcoming webinars. Make sure to reserve your spot!

September 12th: Rankings in the Web App

September 19th: Social in the Web App

September 26th: The MozBar

October 3rd: Crawl Diagnostics in the Web App

We've got the next few topics covered, but we want your help in selecting the rest of our Wednesday Webinar series topics. We’ve created a survey of various SEOmoz tools we’d love to cover. Our future Wednesday Webinars are going to be based on user suggestions, so make sure to throw us some ideas. We would love your feedback!

Seth's Blog : Thinking about supermodels

Thinking about supermodels

Models are fairly generic placeholders, attractive men and women who anonymously walk down the runway at a fashion show or stand up for a photo shoot. It's surprisingly unglamorous and isn't particularly steady or financially rewarding.

Supermodels, on the other hand, are a relatively recent innovation, and they are in a totally different (financial) category. The interesting thing is that everyone benefits: the model makes a lot more money, the advertiser gains more credibility from using the known face and the audience gets the frisson of recognition that comes from celebrity. Supermodels aren't necessarily prettier, they're merely more famous, a niche that serves all the parties.

There's a leap between model and supermodel. There isn't really a stable niche for reallygoodmodel and extremelygoodmodel. You are either seen as worth the super premium or you're not. This quantum leap from one state to the other makes it an unpredictable career, one fraught with risk, because you never know when you're going to pop.

You've probably guessed that supermodel status exists in many fields. Stocks, brand names, consultants, doctors, even dog trainers.

The leap must be an intentional one. You don't walk there. You leap.

• Email to a friend •

miercuri, 5 septembrie 2012

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Australia Department Store Sales Slump 10.2 Percent; Retail, Food Store Bankruptcies; Reflections on Housing and Commodities Bust
Spain's Social Security Fund Runs Out of Money; Full Sovereign Bailout Hits €300 Billion; Breathtaking Implosion in Every Way; Five Things Spain Needs to Do
"Property Always a Good Investment" Says President of National Association of Realtors in India
Spain VAT Hike Largest In History; Stunning Ineptitude Will Make History Books

Australia Department Store Sales Slump 10.2 Percent; Retail, Food Store Bankruptcies; Reflections on Housing and Commodities Bust

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 07:37 PM PDT

Interest rates cuts that helped boost retail sales in Australia over the past two months have already worn off. Economists expected a further rise in sales this month only to see a seasonally adjusted .8% decline.

Now Retailers want RBA action as sales dive

Retailers hope the biggest monthly drop in consumer spending in nearly two years will trigger alarm bells at the central bank when its board meets to discuss interest rates.

Retail trade fell by a seasonally adjusted 0.8 per cent in July to $21.4 billion, after being bolstered in the previous two months by government handouts and earlier interest rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).

Economists had expected an overall spending rise of 0.2 per cent in the data collected by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

But department stores' sales slumped 10.2 per cent, the largest fall since April 2005.

Understatement of the Day Award

The understatement of the day award goes to Macquarie Research divisional director Brian Redican who said "The headwinds for growth may be building more rapidly than analysts or policymakers have been expecting."

More Retail, Food Store Bankruptcies

The Age reports Food, fashion jobs in jeopardy as companies collapse

In another blow to Australia's already shaky retail sector, women's fashion chain Ojay and a ready-to-eat food manufacturer have reportedly been put into administration, threatening hundreds of jobs nationwide.

Food jobs also in jeopardy

It was reported early this afternoon that Australian Convenience Foods Group, which makes sandwiches for petrol stations and supermarkets, had collapsed.

Deloitte has been appointed managers of the company, with up to 400 jobs at risk. The company's history goes back to the 1970s. A receptionist at ACF's office confirmed the company had collapsed.

Australian Convenience Foods fell into voluntary administration on August 28 and Deloitte is currently running a sale process to sell the business as a going concern to a new owner. Expressions of interest for buyers close tonight.

Commodities and Housing Bust

In Australia the Unlucky Country Variant Perception states the case for a substantially weaker Australian dollar based on a slowdown in China and a busting of the housing bubble.

That is right in line with the case Michael Pettis has presented in regards to his prediction of a major slowdown in China.

For details please see By 2015 Hard Commodity Prices Will Collapse; Australia's Mining Boom Dies (and the Official Denials Start)

Wrapping up the disaster in Australia, please see Michael Feller's synopsis on Macro Investor Being a Bear is Not "unAustralian".

Peruse the Reserve Bank governor's recent remarks to the senate or listen to the commentariat on talkback radio and it would seem that Australia's economy has become victim of nothing more than an insidious rogue gloom-and-doomerism that threatens to hurt the nation, or worse.

At its worst, this anti-half-glass-empty rhetoric smacks economic McCarthyism. Shooting the messenger is as old as politics itself, but in what we like to consider an open, pluralistic society, let alone the 21st century, we should demand a higher standard of debate.

Saying that Australia has unusually high house prices, has a banking system vulnerable to external shocks, relies too much on a cyclical and temporary mining boom, or carries far too much household sector debt is not unAustralian, it is patriotic. And calling on policymakers to do something about our vulnerabilities is not negative behaviour, nor does it diminish our otherwise very obvious achievements, it is prudent.

The bears, the doom-mongers, the chip-kickers, the Hanrahans and the whingers aren't a bunch of lazy bludgers, jeering from the sidelines, they are the people who are cognisant of the very real risks to the Australian economy. Many of them merely believe that while Australia's economy is great, and its stewardship has been largely competent, even a perfect work of machinery can have its flaws and it would be remiss to ignore these if they can damage the whole.

Although it's probably too late to implement policies that would have had us squirrel away some of the boom for a rainy day – a boom that Rio Tinto's CEO now denies ever existed – and although it's probably too late to diversify our trade balance before China stops building surplus fixed inventory, it's not too late to reshape our economic conversation before we face the next challenges, opportunities and threats as an economy and as a society.

It's Too Late

The housing bubble cannot be undone, it can only crash. Retailers will continue to go bust because they overpaid on property or leases relative to demand. Excessive mortgages will make debt slaves out of many Australians for life.

The over-investment in base metals based on a silly belief China could grow 10% a year forever has yet to play out (but it will).

Does anyone understand exponential math? It seems not. Even if peak oil was not an issue, it is virtually impossible for China to maintain the growth rate most analysts expected.

No one listened to Steve Keen, me, and other bears when there was time to limit the damage. It's far too late now. Time has expired and any efforts to reignite the boom can only make matters worse.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List

Spain's Social Security Fund Runs Out of Money; Full Sovereign Bailout Hits €300 Billion; Breathtaking Implosion in Every Way; Five Things Spain Needs to Do

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 12:35 PM PDT

The Spanish implosion in breathtaking in every way: Human Flight, Capital Flight, Real Estate, Employment, and Taxes. The cost of a full bailout is now €300 billion, up from a preposterously low €30 billion projection in June.

€300 billion should not be shocking given my statements on June 9th in Bailout Lite? There's Really No Such Thing; €30 Billion Needed? It's Now €100 Billion; Contagion of Economic Idiocy.

A few days ago Spain was purportedly going to need another €30 billion to €70 billion to recapitalize Spanish banks. I suggested the amount would be at least triple that...triple the upper end of the reported amount. Bear in mind I am just guessing. However, history shows that I am more likely to be on the low end than the high end.

As with Greece, every economic number from Spain is revised to the downside, month in and month out. For now, the EU economic wizards will likely concoct a number just under that alleged "upper limit". My best guess is €90 billion. Then within six months, possibly as soon as the money is handed over, more problems will surface, more meetings will take place, and still more money will be stolen from Spanish taxpayers and handed over to the banks and bondholders.

Mish the Optimist

"Within six months" I said. It took three months, proving once again that I tend to be optimistic on such problems.

By the way, with revised sovereign bailout estimates already hitting my €300 billion target, it is best to start thinking in terms of half-a-trillion or more.

Breathtaking Implosion in Every Way

I get links from Bran who lives in Spain nearly every day. I do not have time to translate them all. Here are some links from the past few days with brief comments from Bran.

Social Security Fund Runs Out of Money: Social Security pulls from its reserve fund for the first time, using it up almost entirely. Article states there is nothing to stop the government from selling the main SS fund investment to meet payments. Article also notes the fund is invested heavily in Spanish sovereign debt, to the tune of €67.948 billion.
Cost of Unemployment Benefits Soar: Unemployment benefit cost predictions blow out. The government prediction was -5%. Reality was +5.4%
Price of Gasoline Soars: Gasoline prices up 75% in the last 4 yrs here and was not cheap to start off with!
Massive Mortgage Debt: Household debt is €848.222 billion, 76.9% of which is mortgage debt.
Capital Flight: Clients pull 15.6% of deposits at Novagalicia in the first half.

Early this morning I posted Spain VAT Hike Largest In History; Stunning Ineptitude Will Make History Books.

I have near-endless material on Spain. Here are some additional links, this time from mainstream media.

Brinkmanship Over Bail-Out Terms

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard at The Telegraph notes Brinkmanship as Spain warns over bail-out terms

Spain has issued a veiled warning that it will not accept a full bail-out from Europe if the terms are too harsh, a move that would paralyse the European Central Bank and call the euro's survival into question.

In an escalating game of brinkmanship, Spanish finance minister Luis de Guindos said his country is not yet willing to sign a Memorandum giving up fiscal sovereignty to EU inspectors. "First of all, one must clarify the conditions," he told German newspaper Handelsblatt.

Mr de Guindos said the crisis engulfing the region is larger than any one country and warned north Europe not to scapegoat Spain.

The warning comes as German Chancellor Angela Merkel leaves for Madrid for talks with premier Mariano Rajoy to thrash out the conditions of a full sovereign rescue of up €300bn (£238bn), beyond the €100bn bank rescue already agreed.

It emerged today that Spain's social security system has raided a rainy-day fund to cover state pensions for the first time as deepening recession erodes contributions.

Meanwhile, official data shows that the toxic property loans of Spain's four nationalised banks have reached €75bn and are rising faster than feared. Bankia's "potentially problematic" loans are €42bn. The biggest surprise is a 50pc surge in bad debts to €9bn at Cataluyna Caixa since January. Non-payments on mortgages have doubled.

Net claims on Spain through the ECB's Target 2 payments system have reached 39pc of GDP.

"The build-up in central bank liabilities is explosive," said Nomura's Jens Nordvig.

Spaniards Pull Out Their Cash and Get Out of Spain

The New York Times reports Fears Rising, Spaniards Pull Out Their Cash and Get Out of Spain

"The macro situation in Spain is getting worse and worse," Mr. Vildosola, 38, said last week just hours before boarding a plane to London with his wife and two small children. "There is just too much risk. Spain is going to be next after Greece, and I just don't want to end up holding devalued pesetas."

In July, Spaniards withdrew a record 75 billion euros, or $94 billion, from their banks — an amount equal to 7 percent of the country's overall economic output — as doubts grew about the durability of Spain's financial system.

The deposit outflow in Spain reflects a broader capital flight problem that is by far the most serious in the euro zone. According to a recent research note from Nomura, capital departing the country equaled a startling 50 percent of gross domestic product over the past three months — driven largely by foreigners unloading stocks and bonds but also by Spaniards transferring their savings to foreign banks.

More disturbing for Spain is that the flight is starting to include members of its educated and entrepreneurial elite who are fed up with the lack of job opportunities in a country where the unemployment rate touches 25 percent.

According to official statistics, 30,000 Spaniards registered to work in Britain in the last year, and analysts say that this figure would be many multiples higher if workers without documents were counted.

"It seems as if everyone I know in Spain is getting on an easyJet to come to London and open a bank account," said one such banker, who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing his company's policy.

That is what Mr. Vildosola did before he took the more drastic step of moving his family to England.

"It's sad," he said. "But I just don't think there is a future for me in Spain right now."

Key Question

The key question now regarding Spain is whether human and capital flight is excessively pessimistic or simply the recognition phase that things far worse are coming.

Sadly, I believe the latter. The reason is Spain needs to do a number of things and it is on a track to do none of them.

Five Things Spain Needs to Do

Exit the Euro
Institute major changes in work rules
Revamp its pension system
Lower taxes in general, especially corporate income taxes and the VAT
Write off bad property loans

How many of those things is Spain doing? The answer is zero. Actually, the answer is negative given Spain is foolishly hiking taxes, exactly the wrong thing to do.

The situation in Spain is hopeless. Expect more capital and human flight.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List

"Property Always a Good Investment" Says President of National Association of Realtors in India

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 09:22 AM PDT

Occasionally I get an email regarding India that piques my interest.

Such is the case today with this link from an Indian reader: "Property is Always a Good Investment" says the president of the National Association of Realtors India.

The prices will go up in the near future with costs of construction increasing. This is a good time for prospective homebuyers to make a move and acquire property. Farook Mahmood, Founder President, National Association of Realtors - India, shares some thoughts on the market conditions, in this chat with TOI.

"Always a Good Investment"

There is no need to read further. Indeed there was no need to do anything but read the title of the Economic Times article and laugh out loud.

However, for the sake of amusement, I did read the article to discover...

Property is always a good investment. It is more so at a time when the markets are stable. If you buy at a time when the markets are stable, the value appreciation is sharper when the markets move up.

It is an effective hedge against inflation in the long term. In volatile financial market conditions , real estate has always bucked the trend. Property has always delivered high capital gains for investors at all points in time. This makes it a safe option and a good avenue for risk-averse investors. It is good for those who want it for their own use or purely as an investment to be liquidated later.

In these days, when the stock markets are volatile, and apart from gold all other asset classes are not yielding the desired returns , property is the best bet.

This is the best time for those undecided to buy. There are many prospective homebuyers waiting in the wings either because they expect the prices to come down or home loan interest rates to drop in the near future.

Property prices seldom come down. With the existing values, I don't see the possibility of a price correction. There are various reasons why property prices will only go up - the costs of raw material, labour and acquiring land are going up by the day. Inflation is pushing up the costs too.

Such blatant nonsense is exactly what one hears at market tops. I do not follow India closely but in isolation, that preposterous infomercial, disguised as a news story, suggests property prices in India are on the verge of collapse.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List

Spain VAT Hike Largest In History; Stunning Ineptitude Will Make History Books

Posted: 05 Sep 2012 12:30 AM PDT

Fiscal deficits continue to mount in Spain in spite of austerity measures and tax hikes. Spain desperately needs work reforms, but on that score there has been little progress.

Instead, the government keeps hiking taxes to combat ballooning deficits, only to see further declining revenues in which the government hikes taxes again and again in an absurd attempt to make up for those shortfalls.

Via Google translate from Libre Mercardo please consider The VAT increase is the largest tax increase democracy.

Each Spanish pay an average of 20.8% VAT, 369 per year, six days of extra work to comply with the Treasury.

The VAT increase, which took effect on Saturday, raising the general rate of 18% to 21%, reduced from 8% to 10%, while the super-reduced-duty on-staples remains 4%. In addition, hundreds of products previously taxed at 4%, as school supplies, and 8%, such as film and hairdressers, pass it to 21%, nearly three multiplying its previous taxation.

But beyond these percentage increases, the increase in VAT means that a worker will pay on average 369 euros per year ditional this concept, a 20.79%, according to a study by the think tank Civics. Thus, the taxpayer will have to work six days a year just to meet its commitments to the Treasury.

In retrospect, it is "the largest tax increase in democracy", as it will reduce the disposable income of citizens even more than the increase of VAT by the previous government of Rodriguez Zapatero (192 per year) and the recent income tax hike approved last December Mariano Rajoy (137 euros) "together", the report warns. Successive increases applied to income tax and VAT since 2010 have undermined the middle class almost 700 euros per year.

Furthermore, according to the head of Research Civics, Cristina Berechet, this higher tax will not serve to raise more, and will restrict consumption and probably increase fraud. "The VAT rise is incompatible with some as high taxes to work, "he says.

Stunning Ineptitude Will Make History Books

Spain's unemployment rate is over 25% and the youth unemployment rate is near 53% yet the fools in the Spanish government hiked taxes yet again, this time by the largest amount in history.

Spain's handling of this economic implosion is sure to make the history books as a prime example of complete ignorance in how to deal with a fiscal crisis.

Flashback 2010

My friend Bran who lives in Spain writes ...

Hello Mish
Check out this YouTube Video Montage (in Spanish) from Rajoy / PP in 2010.
Rajoy states raising the VAT would be a counterproductive stab in the back of fellow countrymen. No more VAT hikes was a key election promise.
Bran.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List

joi, 6 septembrie 2012

We the People: 3 Million Signatures Later

Ensuring Client Collaboration Through Agile Marketing