Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

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48.6% of Spaniards Aged 18-24 Would Take Any Job, Anywhere, for Low Wages; Ikea Spain Gets 100,000 Applicants for 400 Jobs; Walmart, McDonalds Comparison Posted: 11 Jan 2014 05:49 PM PST In contrast to McDonalds' workers in the US demanding $15 an hour wages, Almost half of young Spaniards accept any job, anywhere, despite low salary 48.6% of Spaniards aged 18 to 24 said they would accept any job, anywhere and even with a low income. 84.9% felt very or fairly likely to have to work on what is available, 61.7% considered it equally likely to have to go abroad, and 79.2% said they need to study more. Despite this, an overwhelming majority (80%) are convinced that, at least in the near future, will have to be financially dependent on their family. Future is Black Young Spaniards recognize enjoy the benefits of the welfare state far more than their parents, except as regards stability and security. They are also convinced that their children will live much worse than them. Frustrated Expectations Only 20% of young people believe things will improve in the next two or three years, compared to 36% who think it will get worse. Moreover, nearly three in four young people (71%) considered likely to find little or no work in the coming year. Ikea Spain Gets 100,000 Applicants for 400 Jobs Also via translation from El Economista, please consider Ikea Spain Gets 100,000 Applicants for 400 Jobs The Swedish multinational Ikea will have work to select staff for a store in Valencia because 100,000 people submitted applications to fill 400 jobs. Ika received a total of 100,000 job applications through a web page offering. In the first 48 hours of processing, Ikea received 20,000 applications. The store, which will open in summer, will have a staff of 400 employees and also generate about 80 indirect jobs to cover services such as security, transport and cleaning, among others. Walmart, McDonalds Comparison To be fair, there is a major difference between McDonalds' employees and Spaniards seeking jobs. The McDonalds' employees demanding higher wages have jobs. Those seeking jobs, don't. However, every McDonalds' employee knew their wage when they were hired. Like Spaniards willing to accept low wages, they took the jobs anyway. 1 Million McDonalds Applicants I cannot find anything recent on McDonalds, but on April 28, 2011, Bloomberg reported "McDonald's and its franchisees hired 62,000 people in the U.S. after receiving more than one million applications, the Oak Brook, Illinois-based company said today in an e-mailed statement. Previously, it said it planned to hire 50,000." Walmart 23,000 Applicants for 600 Jobs On November 19, 2013 NBC Washington reported Walmart to Open First D.C. Stores Dec. 4 Walmart's H Street and Georgia Avenue locations will open Dec. 4 at 8 a.m. Both the 103,000-square-foot Georgia Avenue store and the 74,000-square-foot H Street location will feature fresh produce, a deli, organic food items and a full-service pharmacy. The stores will hire a combined 600 associates after combing through the more 23,000 applications its received from potential employees. The arrival of Walmart has not been a smooth one. Both stores were on the verge of never opening after the retail giant threatened to pull its plans if Mayor Vincent Gray signed a living wage bill. The Large Retailer Accountability Act, known colloquially as the "Walmart Bill," would have required  the company -- and other big-box retailers -- to pay its employees a minimum of $12.50 an hour. Gray vetoed the bill in September. Minimum wage in the District currently stands at $8.25 an hour. Reflections on Living Wages Take a poll of those employees. I bet 100% of them are happier to have a job at $8.25 an hour vs. no job at some presumed "living wage" that they would not get because there were no jobs. Of course, now that they have a job and should be happy, some union activist is going to try to convince them they shouldn't be happy. The Real Problem Other than a couple of like-minded Austrian bloggers, no one has bothered to complain about the real problem: The Fed pumping money supply like mad, while holding interest rates low. Five Results Prices rising faster than wages Grossly distorted income inequalities Non-existent price signals Interest rates that encourage hardware and software solutions to eliminate employees Equity and bond market bubbles I blasted the Fed regarding these issues early Friday. For details and truly educational reading, please see Money as Communication: A Purposely "Non-Educational" Fallacious Video by the Atlanta Fed. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific.

Spaniards Expelled from Belgium for Abusing Illegal Immigrant Social Aid Handouts Posted: 11 Jan 2014 12:53 PM PST What would happen if the US suddenly kicked out illegal immigrants for abuse of free handouts and social aid? Belgium did just that. The numbers are small, but the point is that it happened at all. Via translation from Libre Mercado, please consider Spaniards, among Europeans expelled from Belgium's abuse of social aid programs. The Aliens Office of Belgium withdrew permission of residence to 323 Spaniards in 2013 because they  no longer meet the requirements, such as having an employment contract, being a student or have become self-employed, and thus prevent impose burdens exaggerated to the coffers of the Belgian Social Security. Spanish rank third in number of expulsions, behind only Romanians and Bulgarians. In total, Belgium expelled a total of 2,712 European citizens for these reasons over the past year. This represents an increase from 2012, when it withdrew permission for 2,407 people to stay in the country. European citizens have the right to freedom of movement within the territory of the European Union, but must meet certain requirements during your stay at a home outside the Member State. The Belgian Foreign Office explained that the main reason for removing these permissions have to do with "unreasonable burden on the social system" involving these citizens, by not complying with the conditions required to Europeans. Not only does this happen in Europe, it happens  in spite of alleged freedom of movement clauses for Eurozone nations. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific.

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