Hello there, I'm your English teacher and I welcome you all to my blog. I hope you'll find lots of useful materials for your revision and to practice your English in a fun way. It is also open to your own suggestions, good advice and your work and projects. Enjoy!
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Friday, June 22, 2012
GAY PRIDE 2012
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Spain's 90s greed is at the root of its banking crisisA collective madness over property speculation made us poor and jeopardised our future. Spain must secure a partial bailout
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'Spain is now a country with a million unsold properties [and] hundreds of housing developments left unfinished.' Photograph: Arturo Rodriguez/AP
Spain's banking crisis did not come out of the blue. In the 1990s the Spanish suffered a bout of collective madness. Interest rates fell from 14% (with the peseta) to 4% (with the euro) in a matter of weeks. In 1998 the centre-right government passed a law that significantly increased the amount of land for development. Developers got rich, selling the idea that everyone was going to win because property would always go up – never down – in value. German banks financed Spain's savings and commercial banks, which needed extra funds for high-risk mortgages. Greed made us rich for a while – but then it made us poor, and jeopardised our future.
Spain bailout terms 'to be agreed within a week'Urgency reflects growing consensus that Spanish collapse might start chain reaction that could topple Italy and destroy the euro
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/08/spain-bailout-agreed-week
Experts say Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy’s attempts to avoid external control of the country's economy are doomed to failure. Photograph: Andrea Comas/Reuters
The first planks in a dramatic bailout for Spain will be bolted together this weekend, with a final figure on the size of the rescue package to be ready within a week, according to sources in Brussels and Madrid.
The moves towards bailing out the finance sector of the eurozone's fourth biggest economy reflect a growing consensus that a Spanish collapse must be averted to prevent a devastating chain reaction that could bring down Italy and destroy the single currency. There were fears that this would spark a global downturn extending to the US and China, and both countries urged Europe to move swiftly to fix its long-running debt crisis.
Spain's savings banks' culture of greed, cronyism and political meddlingThe behaviour of executives at Spain's savings banks or cajas is now coming under scrutiny as the sector prepares to seek taxpayer bailouts
Read the whole article on: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/08/spain-savings-banks-corruption
Attempts to investigate Bankia, the country's fourth largest lender that absorbed a number of savings banks, have been blocked by the ruling People's party. Photograph: Sergio Perez/Reuters
As European taxpayers prepare to rescue Spain's ailing banks, anti-corruption prosecutors, academics and regional parliaments are uncovering a tale of greed, cronyism and political meddling that has brought many of the country's leading savings institutions to their knees.
With the fourth biggest lender, Bankia, demanding €19bn (£15.4bn) and authorities now admitting a further €9bn is needed by two former savings banks – CatalunyaCaixa and Novagalicia – concern is focusing on both the mushrooming bill and the way banks have been run.Court investigators are also scrutinising payments to former senior executives and the part-flotation of Bankia, in which 350,000 small investors saw two-thirds of their money wiped out.
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