When it comes to banks, yeah.
"Spain’s leaders OK retirement age increase" by Daniel Woolls, Associated Press / January 29, 2011
MADRID — Spaniards were hit with another bitter dose of austerity yesterday as the Cabinet approved raising the retirement age from 65 to 67 to reassure jittery markets that the country can handle its heavy debt burden.
With the European sovereign debt crisis still festering and international investors wary, Spain, like many European countries, has little option but to cut costs. The nation is struggling to crawl out of recession after its property market collapsed and its unemployment rate is above 20 percent, a eurozone high.
The deal gave Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero a bit of breathing space as he presides over a struggling economy and trails conservatives in the polls with a general election just over a year away and local and regional elections in May.
The proposal was negotiated with unions and backed by them — a victory for Zapatero’s Socialist government.
I'd be ashamed to say I'm a Spanish Socialist.
“Hats off to the Spanish. They are setting an example,’’ Angel Gurria, the head of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said. The deal “shows great leadership, great awareness by the Spanish about the needs, and the political courage to do it.’’
It does take guts to defy your people to serve international bankers.
“It’s one more success’’ for Europe, he said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where many leaders and investors expressed concern about the euro and Europe’s debt crises.
The plan still needs approval by Parliament, although Zapatero’s Socialists have lined up support up from small regional parties to pass the measure....
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Also see: Spain Slides Into Banker Pocket
Where governments feel right at home.
