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AutomaticEarth<>Debt Rattle October 28 2017

Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 9:15 am

• Spanish PM Dissolves Catalan Parliament And Calls Fresh Elections (G.)

• Finland Prepares Parliamentary Vote To Recognize Catalonia (Exp.)

• Catalonia Looks To Estonia’s E-Residency, Considers Cryptocurrency (IBT)

• EU Economic Failures Are To Blame For Catalonia Mess – Steve Keen (Sp.)

• Robert Mueller’s First Charges (Atlantic)

• Large U.S. Cities Struggle With High Fixed Costs (BBG)

• What You See Is Not What You Get in GDP (WS)

• IRS Apologizes For Aggressive Scrutiny Of Conservative Groups (NPR)

• J is for Junk Economics – Michael Hudson (Ren.)

• New Zealand May Tighten Law That Allows Mega Wealthy To Buy Citizenship (G.)

• Hopes Dashed For Giant New Antarctic Marine Sanctuary (AFP)

"Vote for independence, get the opposite. A feature not a flaw in the EU."

• Spanish PM Dissolves Catalan Parliament And Calls Fresh Elections (G.)

The Spanish government has taken control of Catalonia, dissolved its parliament and announced new elections after secessionist Catalan MPs voted to establish an independent republic, pushing the country’s worst political crisis in 40 years to new and dangerous heights. Speaking on Friday evening, the Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, said his cabinet had fired the regional president, Carles Puigdemont, and ordered regional elections to be held on 21 December. Rajoy said the Catalan government had been removed along with the head of the regional police force, the Mossos d’Esquadra. The Catalan government’s international “embassies” are also to be shut down. “I have decided to call free, clean and legal elections as soon as possible to restore democracy,” he told a press conference, adding that the aim of the measures was to “restore the self-government that has been eliminated by the decisions of the Catalan government.

“We never, ever wanted to get to this situation. Nor do we think that it would be good to prolong this exceptional [state of affairs]. But as we have always said, this is not about suspending autonomy but about restoring it.” The actions came hours after Spain’s national unity suffered a decisive blow when Catalan MPs in the 135-seat regional parliament voted for independence by a margin of 70 votes to 10. Dozens of opposition MPs boycotted the secret ballot, marching out of the chamber in Barcelona before it took place and leaving Spanish and Catalan flags on their empty seats in protest. Minutes later in Madrid, the Spanish senate granted Rajoy unprecedented powers to impose direct rule on Catalonia under article 155 of the constitution. The article, which has never been used, allows Rajoy to sack Puigdemont and assume control of Catalonia’s civil service, police, finances and public media.

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