Odious comparisons IV - Pirates and rankings

A few months ago several news came up referring to the outcry being raised in the audiovisual industry and copyright in general, due to the high level of piracy in the country. Various studies quantify the impact of these practices in several ways, showing how Spain is ahead of EU countries in this regard.

Comparisons are odious aren’t they? Especially when from the data, readings and interpretations are made. Such as those leading to say that in Spain there is very little respect for the law, or for intellectual property rights, or there are some congenital and abundant evil rascals, higher than in neighboring countries. Therein lies the problem, in the multiple interpretations, often based on biased evidence.

Usually, the data are agnostic; it is people that read those who must put their brains to make something useful out of them. I will be biased myself now. I played around with the numbers presented above. If I show you this other comparative related to the topic, isn’t the reading different?

Well, you can not yet know because I do not state the variables, but I can anticipate that they also relate to trends in digital piracy. Spain is no longer the "worst" case.

Odious Comparisons III - The major reform

The time is coming... The time of cure, the time when the great reform, the labor reform will take place and solve all our problems. Will be employers and unions, will be the government, will be the International Monetary Fund and the European Community, or the general strike, the ones with the honor of articulating such a tremendous turnaround in the economy of Spain?

As I mentioned in a previous post, an economic crisis is complex, and pretending to have the key solutions seems naive, but something must be done, even if it is just running in the halls up and down screaming uncontrollably. It would be good, though, to remember the story from the beginning (and summarised, in a way I can understand). Please correct me if I'm totally wrong:

 Image: Foto Gratis

Once upon a time, there was a financial system, very little regulated one and eager to grow, as dictated by the laws of good practice. Thanks to the feverish and constructive minds of some of its members and with the connivance of those that relax during good times, such as some governments, insurers and risk rating companies, they found a good balloon to pump on growth.

Odious Comparisons I - The exact end of economic crisis in Spain

The current economic crisis greatly concerns the most of us. That's why it seems that every day signs of recovery are searched for, no matter where, as if we expected the desired discharge from a nasty disease.

The root causes and its consequences are no doubt complex, making it very difficult for us to know what measures will relieve us from it, and if they do, when  will that happen. Nevertheless, the urgency is great, and this urgency forces us to seek signs of change under the stones.

Exciting data emerged a few days ago in Spain, which were given considerable publicity, namely that the Spanish GDP quarterly change had become positive (one quarter GDP had grown compared to the previous quarter by an estimated 0.1%, instead of decreasing). With this in mind, we could claim being technically out of recession (a period in which economic activity declines in a country).