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INPRIMATU
Lagard and De Guindos get your mortgage
  • Carlos Sánchez Mato is professor of applied economics at the University of Madrid and responsible for the programming of Ezker Batua. We have translated into Basque the article he has written in the middle of El Salto. "The European Central Bank has decided to raise the price of money by 75 points within the euro zone, which will be a huge blow to you," the article begins.
Carlos Sanchez Mato El Salto @ElSaltoDiario 2022ko irailaren 13a

Although the news that will take time in the mass media is the death of the Queen of England, what will affect you is something else. Yes, the fact that the head of the Windsor family is very aged, with the money that Forbes calculates for over 88,000 million dollars, will not change your life.

But the fact that the European Central Bank (ECB) decides to raise the price of the euro area by 75 points will give it a huge blow. You and the vast social majority in Europe will be affected by the higher rates agreed by the ECB.

Why have they done so then? You'll wonder. Because the ECB, the bank, which is the property of all, is not going to do anything against its shareholders. It would be unnatural. Moreover, if it is distinguished by something, it is because it is "independent", outside the governments of countries that have only pseudoid political interests.

He has a basic reason to act like this. Economic orthodoxy has always said that, in the case of price increases, a strong monetary policy must be pursued by raising interest rates. And as inflation is expected to end the year by 8.1%, it has acted accordingly.

Logical, right?

Well, no.

I tell you what's going on, even though you're going to lose the images of all the televisions that are talking about "important news." I'm making him a spoiler. The new English head of state will be the son Elisabet II.aren. In other words, he will inherit the people. And the ECB defends the interests of a few in the euro area.

Inflation started to get out of control more than a year ago (there was no war in Ukraine), because the manipulated electricity market within the reach of a few giant companies is making gold on our own. They call it “liberalisation.” The people cost the same life. As the governments of the European Union did not face this crazy rise fueled by a market that sets prices marginally, that is, as we pay all the electricity at the most expensive price, the rise in electricity prices passed to the whole economy. Many other sectors entered the “party” and have taken advantage of it to increase their profits. There we had head-on inflation and nothing could be done. The market was sacred. Do you remember? You know, intervention in prices is a matter for communists, unless you start to see everything in black and put forward by the President of the European Commission.

These price increases are very negative. They mainly affect lower incomes, as they affect primary, basic products which cannot be replaced to a greater extent. This situation cannot be maintained. That is why Christine Lagard and Luis de Guindos decide to act firmly.

According to data from the Statistics Institute in June, expenditure on basic necessities increased by 16% compared to 2021. Well, they put 37 percent of your mortgage up to fix it. They don't care very much, because he happened to be a minister of economy with Lagarde Sarkozy and De Guindos held the same position with Rajoy. Look, those who run and have led the European Central Bank are more right-wing than the cold water tap.

Are you going to fix it with these measures?

It's my turn to throw back a jar of cold water. No, that is not the case. I mean, it's not useful for families and businesses that have a bad time. However, “with a little luck”, the sharp rise in interest rates will reduce people’s consumption (not of basic goods, I’m sorry) and we will enter into recession. In some years of deep crisis, prices can be reduced. Basically, the ECB has decided to save the suffering of the flu patient and has beaten him and chopped his bones.

What to do with the oligopolies not to enter the salsa with the owners. That is why the ECB should be ‘independent’. Because it has to be outside of you and me, because we have “other interests” and we would fix it differently, radically cutting the price hike in August last year. But this would be a suffering for large companies and, above all, for those who have been calling on the ECB for years to raise interest rates. We are talking about banks.

The upward rally that Lagard and De Guindos have piloted with great skill since the beginning of the year will increase their income to the bank by 49% for a whole year. It is EUR 14.630 million that will be transferred from the hands of families and non-financial companies to the pockets of the ECB’s real shareholders.

But of course, shock treatment can cause serious problems for the economy. Some things that can happen are that the most indebted families and businesses are unable to pay the loans, and that there is a new banking crisis, due to the increase in those who do not pay the debt.

Let no one worry. The institutions, which today, more than yesterday, are too large to fall, will have to be rescued again.

In short, a round play, but for a few:

A- The price of electricity is increased by a market manipulated by large companies in the sector.

B- Increases inflation.

D-The ECB removes economic incentives and raises interest rates, as requested by banks.

E-Lagard and De Guindos raise your mortgage.

Elite game, set and match.