HOGUERAS in Alicante

HOGUERAS is much more that you can imagine. It is about music, fireworks, firecrakers, light, color, dancing, people everty time in the street, good atmosphere and, of course, our monuments or statues.

The HOGUERAS period starts from the 20th to the 24th of June, every year in the Southeast city of Spain, Alicante. Alicante is a very turistic city, with a great new airport connected to many countries in the world. Beautiful beaches, good weather, great food, and above all, our local festivities; the Hogueras of Saint John.

From the 15th to the 19th: Pre-Hogueras period

The 15th of June is the day when the girl representing Alicante during that year, the Bellea del foc d´Alacant, officially starts the Hogueras with her speech. This always happens the previous friday of the 20th of June. The weekend after that speech, called "el pregón", there are a serie of parades. On saturday every Hoguera in Alicante (there are 90!) dressed up with the traditional dress of the city, the Alicantina or Zaragüel dresses (showed in the picture).

 Also, the day after that, on Sunday, every hoguera (which represents every neighbour in the city) dressed with costumes that will mean something from thier own monument and they do the parede around Alicante (show one costume in the picture below from the Hoguera Hernán Cortés, during this 2013).

After that non-stop weekend comes what we call "la plantà" that menas the building of the monuments (one for the adults and one for the children of each hoguera) during the next couple of days:

This is the beginning of a complete full of fun week (at least) :)  This has just began! Next post will show the HOGUERAS period understood from the 20th to the 24th of June that includes firecrakers (or Mascletà), more parades (or desfiles), the finished monuments (or Hogueras), music, food, the cliff-hanger when the monuments are in flames (what it is called "the cremà), and much much more fun!

Why the UK’s title as the financial centre of the world is under threat from EU legislation?

London is one of the main financial centres in the world for foreign exchange trading where the Euro bonus are widely used for this purpose.

The current agreements between the UK and the EU related to trade, commerce, competitiveness, banking supervision or tax regulations may require a revision to solve some loopholes between these partners. Since the in-out referendum proposal to leave the EU before 2017 is being debated, some problems between the UK and the EU have been revealed.

New regulations from the EU could affect the financial system established in the UK, but how? Opinions are divided between the Euro skeptics and the pro-European about the consequences of the UK versus EU relationship would have after the negotiation agreements.

Banking union

The financial and economic crisis has unveiled the Euro weaknesses as a single currency. Therefore, the Eurozone Central Bank set a common banking supervisor to monitor the major banks in the threshold of the single currency.

In contrast, the European Banking Authority which regulates also UK banks could marginalized the UK “by setting liquidity and capital requirements for the biggest banks in the Euro area, will favour those institutions at the cost of the UK’s,” according to a Quartz analysis made by Lily Kuo (17 May, 2013). It is also added that a negotiation that took place last year included a clause about the no-marginalization of any EU country under this union. Moreover, a voting system will be introduced for all EU members about the banking union system.

Tax regulation

The Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), the so-called Tobin Tax, has been imposed to 11 Eurozone countries to pursue a levy on financial transactions. The UK abstained in vote although they are also tackling issues of tax avoidance among some companies established in this country.

This tax could end up adding a small change in the trade between the UK and the Eurozone countries, although it could also attract some more businesses to the UK. The future of this strategy cannot be foreseen yet.

UK vs EU relationship

It is not clear whether the exit of the UK from the EU would bring a better situation, but the uncertainty could have negative consequences for the British market. Also, the Scottish referendum in 2014 would have as a main point the EU situation. If they want to belong to the EU they could have a better chance leaving the UK and apply later to become an European membership, rather than staying in the UK and later being dragged out of the EU. This is also an important aspect to consider here.

Perhaps the dilemma is not regarding the new regulation of the EU, but the deteriorating relationship between the UK and the EU. Things can improve, however extreme positions might damage both financial markets rather than gaining any benefits, and amid the economic situation, the consequences must be well analysed before talking any misstep. 

Uncertain Future of Capitalism

It is worthy to take a look at this video with Mr. Kay and Mrs. Mazzucato about Capitalism; or better say, market economies and innovation projects.

According to Mr. Kay modern business and the world of capitalism is misleading and they do not have the same meaning as they did in the Industrial Revolution. The term “ownership”, for example is not meaningful anymore for the world of capitalism, as well as the economics do not arrive anymore from the owner of capital. “Who owns the means of production does not matter”, says Mr. Kay. The point of view here is that there is a link between economics and political influence. Who are the owners of the shares of a company? That´s an important question that implies many answers within it: who decides the laws of the shares, who decides who votes, or the interest for that shares... Modern business is less about capital markets than it used to be.

Three characteristics of the market economy
      - Management of operations and the problem of coordination.
      - Experimental discoveries. Uncertainty means the impossibility of the unpredictability and the incapability to know the range of alternatives. Innovation rarely succeed?
   -Decentralization. “rent-seeking” activities. Breaking down concentrations. Looking for discipline, economic and political pluralism. 

On the other side, Mrs. Mazzucato talks about markets as the outcomes explaining that the value is the most important thing. Where does value come from an organization? Organizations interact collectively (collective process). And the state intervenes in thee process through funding resources; “everything that makes a company looks smart and not stupid was funding by the state.” 

Important points: 
      Public private partners = market unequal partners. 
      Nationalization is not innovative.
     The major challenge is to try to achieve a successful political mechanisms to improve market economies.                       
     Role of the state needs to be more pragmatic. 
     Regulations that understand all the process of the financial industry. Policy comes from theory. 


John Kay is a visiting Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He contributes with a weekly column to the Financial Times. Also, he is author of many books, as "the Truth about Markets" (2003). 


Mariana Mazzucato, an economist, holds the RM Phillips Chair in Science and Technology Policy at the University of Sussex (SPRU). Her work focuses on the relationship between financial markets, innovation and economic growth.

http://www2.lse.ac.uk/newsAndMedia/videoAndAudio/channels/publicLecturesAndEvents/player.aspx?id=1921