THE NATIONAL FRAUD (I).

Having worked for a decade under the direction of an economist I was finally convinced that to perform a job you just need to have a great imagination. Watching him build up a budget was like witnessing the translation, in a modern excel sheet, of the traditional “milkmaid and pail” tale, the one that warned about the high expectations on dreams still unrealised. You just needed to increase the price of the raw materials purchased to the primary producer with the cost of transportation, labour, bank interest for deferred payment (a death trap for companies sponsored by state law) and, of course , the profit margin, all pending on the potential customer approval.

Viewed on paper, those budgets were really encouraging, however, once confronted with the reality and their uncertainties, such as a reduction of the budget imposed by the buyer, always ended shattered as the pitcher of milk and consequently, the profit margin always is extracted from the weakest flank: wages. Since intermediation is a form of enrichment based on the correct performance of all the links in the production any setback such as weather, accidents, strikes, holidays or the interruption in the provision of supplies knocks the business down as a house of cards.

As speculators and renters have spent decades buying land and properties to resale them with an increase in price that did not match the real value, the housing bubble reached an unbelievable size sustained in unaffordable credits.

With property and assets to be paid at a price much higher than its actual value and with the impossibility to repay loans by those who have lost their jobs, many Spanish have been caught in the sticky web of the national fraud that was called crisis a short while ago and now has been recognised as recession.

The big businessmen especially those related to the field of construction in connivance with the financial institutions and the "placet" of politicians and supervisors of the Bank of Spain and other entities that did not fulfil their duties are the top fraudsters. Citizens are responsible for remaining blind by the illusion of growth incompatible with reality. We are all victims trying to survive while waiting for better times.

While the media does not stop talking about the "drama" of unemployed youth, no one mentions the tragedy of the Spanish over thirty-five years and older, well trained with a long working experience that have to support their families and financial responsibilities and have lost the last employment train. Self-employment in a society in which consumption has stopped is not an option versus paid employment.

Neither the amendments to the labour legislation nor the austerity policies will reactivate the economy and encourage employment. Meanwhile those who want to start a company are not provided with low-interest loans and still have to pay high Social Security contributions and VAT the locomotive of the economy will remain paralysed. Meanwhile all large companies are dismantled and some are taking advantage of the situation eliminating and reducing staff costs the system remains unchanged.

And while corruption and tax evasion scandals never seem to reach and end we still hope that the "responsible" for once, follow the example of our European neighbours and resign when there are charged for their misdoings.