Corruption, property and a different future

Revisiting this blog it is interesting to reflect on some of the events of the past decade. Corruption is a topic that is discussed much more often in the press, most recently with the fallout surrounding the Panama papers, which has seen a Spanish minister resign from his post (the first time that has happened apparently), as well as sparking a wider debate in the global media about the rules for the rich.

There have been so many corruption cases in the news over these years that it would be difficult to cover them all:
- In Catalonia...the fortune of the Pujol family
- The Palau de la Musica...which nobody seems to want to get to the bottom off.
- the King's own son in law...who seems to have traded off his connections to boost his own lifestyle, but dressed it up behind a "not for profit" organisation. We're not sure if there is a specific crime here, but there are certainly issues about moral standing and ethical behaviour.
- Numerous cases of corruption involving politicians of all colours at all levels...local, regional, national.
- Infrastructure projects that at best seem to be misguided (airports with no airplanes; high speed train lines that will never reach break even; failed toll roads)

The overheated property market that the Banco de España warned against in 2005 came crashing down from 2007 on, with prices falling some 40% across the board and most significantly the volume of transactions plummeting.
Closely linked to the crash of the property market is the reorganisation of the banking sector. The Savings Banks that were often governed by local politicians have largely disappeared from the banking landscape, with some notorious failures. Public money was pumped in to avoid complete failure and the larger commercial banks have expanded their networks across the country.
The banks that remain - particularly the ones that are quoted on the stock exchange - are now preparing themselves for the next wave of change by closing a large number of branches.

As the banks reduce their branch network, the digitalisation of the economy will become a recurring theme in the press. In this ever connected world that we now live in, where more time is spent online than anywhere else, our physical presence is not only complemented by our virtual presence, but in some cases it comes to complement our virtual presence. The same occurs in the business world, as the virtual channels can become more successful than the physical channels, depending on the type of business off course.

The challenge of getting a University degree is as much about forming character, building culture and sharing knowledge, as it is about getting a specific qualification. Often when we leave university and find a job we need to learn specifics. To do that we will use online platforms like Coursera to complement our knowledge...and we will do so throughout our working life. We might always be studying something. Welcome to life-long learning and adapting to the rapidly changing workplace.

And then we have the job market in Spain...which offers many low paying jobs, but employers are still spoilt for choice when looking for candidates for nearly all positions. With the growth of the low wage economy, I have my doubts about how young people will ever become independent if they can't earn more than 1200 euros a month. Sharing apartments is the best way to start and maybe moonlighting in the weekend or evenings will help. Didn't we all have to do that somewhere, sometime? When the next wave of automation hits the services sector, we can expect many low paid administrative jobs to disappear.
Many young people in Spain have decided to look for opportunities in other countries: London, Paris, Berlin or beyond. Faced with high youth unemployment and incredible competition for the available positions, it seems like a logical step. Broaden your horizons, improve your languages, take the risk of moving away from home. Once you take the plunge, life is never the same, but nobody will tell you that it is easy...welcome to a different future.