# Spain to raid bank accounts?



## The Skipper (Nov 26, 2014)

Not the most trusted news source, I know, but does anyone really believe that there is any reason to fear a Spanish government raid on savings accounts?: https://www.euroweeklynews.com/2020...uxembourg-in-fear-of-government-confiscation/


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

Personally, no.

People with enough savings to be worried of this are usually of a political persuasion which would be likely to consider our current government as communists, hence the expressed concerns.

I doubt that these types need much of push to move their savings out of Spain anyway.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

No, but the more this sort of stuff is printed and circulated on social media, the more people will believe it and a run on the banks will be threatened.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Love the description of these super - wealthy individuals as ‘savers’.

Shouldn’t ‘investors’ or even, for some, ’speculators’, be a more accurate and realistic term?


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

mrypg9 said:


> Love the description of these super - wealthy individuals as ‘savers’.
> 
> Shouldn’t ‘investors’ or even, for some, ’speculators’, be a more accurate and realistic term?


Be careful Mry, the other day you were defending businesses making profit....

If a rich guy buys a property then sells it on at a 15% profit, making him even richer, is he a businessman or a speculator?


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## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

Personally speaking, this is why social media is dangerous and when we post stuff we need to be circumspect about what utter rubbish we are circulating


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Overandout said:


> Be careful Mry, the other day you were defending businesses making profit....
> 
> If a rich guy buys a property then sells it on at a 15% profit, making him even richer, is he a businessman or a speculator?


A business making a profit serves many ends: giving employment, contributing to taxation, satisfying consumer demand. 

Profit on a property of the type you described doesn't come under the same category as a business that creates profit. Imo it is unearned income as is the gain anyone rich or not makes on selling property. When a property rises in value it is not because of the input of the owner, it is because of factors such as the state of the economy and the value put into the economy itself by working people. Profit on what is pure investment is unearned wealth.

My point is that it is misleading to label all profit as wicked as is standard in Marxist ideology.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

When we took over our business in the UK we put in much needed capital and over time made a reasonable profit. We used this surplus to employ more people, improve our facilities and pay for training and new equipment. We also used some to help local charities, mainly Dogs Trust and the school I worked in. What was left we took as wages and savings.

Of course and quite rightly we were subject to Corporation Tax although we had tax relief on some of the things we spent on. My partner used to note that we were taxed on the things we did to make a profit and then taxed on that profit but that was fair and just.

That can't be compared to using wealth to increase wealth in a purely individual and private capacity with zero benefit to the wider community.


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

It's an interesting point. I'm not sure I agree honestly because the connotation is that only businesses that produce material objects or provide tertiary services are genuine, but that commodity and share trading (for example) is not.

At the risk of going off topic (even further) I recall an anecdote:
I went through a techy phase and was on a tech forum about mobile phones and was eagerly awaiting a release of a new phone along with many others. It turned out that living in Asia at that time I would get access to the new phone quite some time before the Europeans and Americans would. One American openly stated his discontent that the phone was being offered for sale in the US (before its release date) for nearly double the list price. His complaint was that it was outrageous that people in Asia could buy the phone at X$ and then sell it at a profit in the US just because some people were prepared to pay over the list price to get it earlier.

I pointed out to him that the American system is based entirely on selling something for more than it costs, and that his assumption that it was Asians making the profit was possibly what was annoying him. I asked if it was acceptable if it was a fellow American who was buying the phones in Asia and making the profit on the resale. 

It didn't go down well, and I think the thread got deleted because we were supposed to be talking about the speed of the processor, not the ethics of profiteering!

But my point is, for some, the reseller was providing a service, for others speculating.


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## The Skipper (Nov 26, 2014)

I've been trawling the web to find out if any government has ever raided bank savings accounts and came across this BBC story: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-21814325


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## Love Karma (Oct 10, 2018)

Yes I imagine many people here remember when this happened, thank you for reminding me, what a cheery soul you are.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

The Skipper said:


> I've been trawling the web to find out if any government has ever raided bank savings accounts and came across this BBC story: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-21814325


Yes I remember it happening in Cyprus but they were targeting Russian oligarchs who were using the place as a tax haven. It was ordered by the EU as part of a bailout deal. Very different situation today.



> People rushed to banks and queued at cash machines that refused to release cash as resentment quickly set in. The savers, half of whom are thought to be non-resident Russians, will raise almost €6bn thanks to a deal reached by European partners and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It is the first time a bailout has included such a measure and Cyprus is the fifth country after Greece, the Republic of Ireland, Portugal and Spain to turn to the eurozone for financial help during the region's debt crisis. The move in the eurozone's third smallest economy could have repercussions for financially overstretched bigger economies such as Spain and Italy.


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## Isobella (Oct 16, 2014)

There is a similar story going round re. USA in Bloomberg.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

With all the trillions of extra dollars, pounds and euros that central banks are going to churn out to try and stabilise the economy does anyone else foresee massive inflation looming in a year or two?

So even if the government doesn't tax savings they will quickly lose value anyway. I'd start spending my fortune now (if I had one ... and if there were anything worth spending it on).


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Alcalaina said:


> With all the trillions of extra dollars, pounds and euros that central banks are going to churn out to try and stabilise the economy does anyone else foresee massive inflation looming in a year or two?
> 
> So even if the government doesn't tax savings they will quickly lose value anyway. I'd start spending my fortune now (if I had one ... and if there were anything worth spending it on).


I see a return to the austerity of a few years ago. Mass unemployment, bankruptcies, lack of consumer demand......we need to get out there spending. There are many things worth spending on depending on your taste. I can think of quite a few books I'm going to buy when can go and pick them up Correos doesn't deliver to our address so I use my son's address. Then I'm going to replace a few items of summer clothing. One of the pairs of Levis Bermudas I've worn for over eight years has got rips and holes which might be trendy on someone younger but not on this old girl.....

And as soon as it's open I'm off with friends to my usual Saturday restaurant....and not just on Saturdays.

But first I'll take my boy Choco on his favourite walk along the river bank and then on to the beach.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Overandout said:


> It's an interesting point. I'm not sure I agree honestly because the connotation is that only businesses that produce material objects or provide tertiary services are genuine, but that commodity and share trading (for example) is not.
> 
> At the risk of going off topic (even further) I recall an anecdote:
> I went through a techy phase and was on a tech forum about mobile phones and was eagerly awaiting a release of a new phone along with many others. It turned out that living in Asia at that time I would get access to the new phone quite some time before the Europeans and Americans would. One American openly stated his discontent that the phone was being offered for sale in the US (before its release date) for nearly double the list price. His complaint was that it was outrageous that people in Asia could buy the phone at X$ and then sell it at a profit in the US just because some people were prepared to pay over the list price to get it earlier.
> ...


Difficult, that one. I guess it all comes down to what constitutes a fair price Which again is a difficult subject.

I just heard on tv that masks will be sold at below cost so presumably the Government is subsidising them.

As to the OP, I would presume that most seriously wealthy people wouldn't keep their money in Spanish banks but in some Swiss or offshore account in a more friendly tax regime.

Although I think I'm right in saying that everyone with over 100000euros in their accounts got a haircut from the Cyprus Government. Nowadays that's not considered serious wealth, just enough to do business with Bevin Franks


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Olive pollen has started and I was looking to get some new anti-pollen masks but the farmacia doesn't have any and those from Amazon won't be dispatched until some time in June.


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