Can Rajoy bring joy?

Spain to the polls and it's likely to be a landslide victory for the right-wing Spanish People's Party headed by Mariano Rajoy. It's a bit of a poisoned chalice. Spanish bond yields have ticked up steadily in recent months in spite of the latest Eurozone deal which was supposed to draw a firewall around Spanish and Italian debt. Spain's sovereign debt to GDP ratio is not that high - at below 70% it is lower than both France and Germany and way below Italy. But it has significant private sector debt, both households and corporates. A drive along the coastal south-east is a reminder of the crazy property boom that was pyramided on top of cheap Euro finance. Governments have fallen in all the GIPSI countries now and the new guys have simply been saddled with the problems of the old guys. All of them are pushing through tough austerity packages aimed at controlling government deficits. But this is also stifling domestic demand and pushing their economies into a spiral of low or negative growth, growing debt and rising bond yields. They also need to push reform to free up economic activity, reduce government ownership and stimulate entrepreneurship. These things are only happening at a glacial pace. Mariano Rajoy was brought up and educated in Galicia, in north-west Spain. The QSL is from Radio Nacional de Espana, La Coruna, on the Galician coast. It's one of a bunch of Spanish AM QSLs I've collected, often listening in when they switch to local programming for short spells in the evening.

Pup can't pip Proteas

This week gave me the chance to see lovely shots of Table Mountain on TV here in London. Newlands, the beautiful cricket ground in Cape Town, was the scene of the first test between SA and Australia. I've been there so many times. The game was an amazing statistical anomaly. On what seemed to be a difficult, damp pitch on the first day, Michael Clarke, the Ozzie captain, made an imperious 151 but all the other batsmen struggled. On the second day, the Proteas capitulated making less than 100 and leaving themselves, seemingly, well out of the game. The SA seamers then ripped Oz to pieces, reducing them to 21/9 before they eked out 47. This was, I think, the lowest score by Australia since World War 2. Clarke, known as Pup, managed just 2 in his second knock. The Proteas then knocked off the 236 needed to win with 8 wickets to spare, making it look so easy. It was a story book ending for Protea's captain, Graeme Smith. Hashim Amla made his century, getting there with 4 successive fours and then went out. That gave Smith just enough time to make his 100 and hit the winning runs. The QSL is from Pup's home state, New South Wales. The station is 2AY, Albury, heard in Morgan Bay, South Africa in 1992. This is only 2kW, one of my best AM catches.

Da wheel turns for De Beers

The Oppenheimer family which originally wrested control of De Beers diamond mining empire in 1927 has sold its entire remaining back stake to Anglo American Corp. Things do go through circles! The Oppenheimers had established Anglo American as a gold mining company in 1917 with the backing of the legendary JP Morgan. De Beers has a chequered history, for a long time controlling a global diamond monopoly which made its employees very much persona non grata in the USA. It was founded by Cecil John Rhodes whose estate still funds Rhodes scholarships for outstanding pupils around the world, including one every year from my old school, Bishops, in Cape Town. De Beers was named for Diederick Arnoldus and Johannes Nicholas De Beer, the brothers on whose farm a large diamond was discovered in 1871. This started a stampede to establish claims - 1000s of diggers turned what was initially a small hill into the Big Hole, the heart of the town of Kimberley today, which eventually yielded 3 tons of diamonds. The town exploded in size and was the first in the southern hemisphere to install electric street lighting. These days the biggest share of De Beers diamonds comes from huge mines in Botswana, a major reason for the country's exceptional growth over many years, giving it the best credit rating in Africa. The QSL is from Radio Botswana heard in Cape Town in 1967. This was just after independence in 1966 which is why the world 'Bechuanaland' is crossed out and replaced with 'Botswana.' I actually heard the independence broadcast in September 1966, one of the first things I picked up as a schoolboy DXer. 

Cyprus slips on Greece

It's all about Greece and in the meantime the Greek part of Cyprus is also feeling the pain. Moodys downgraded the Greek Cypriot republic to one notch above junk this week on the exposure of its banks to Greek sovereign debt. Over 70% of Cypriot bank tier 1 capital is exposed to the sovereign, so with a 50% write off a big chunk of capital goes up in smoke. Government will have to step in as we've seen in other peripherals. Looking at the numbers, it's highly improbable that Greece's debt to GDP ratio would fall anywhere near as low as 120% with the 50% write-off as estimated in the big Eurozone deal last week. Greece would have to grow at 2% plus and run large primary budget surpluses for many years, as well as sell of a bunch of state assets. Brazil did it, you say. And maybe Greece could do it but it looks a bit fanciful right now. Cyprus will likely see further downgrades before this is over. Its own debt to GDP is nothing like it's neighbour's but rising fast - looks like it'll clock up 70% next year. The QSL is from the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation heard on shortwave 49mb in Kent in 2001. We've also had a couple of good holidays in Paphos.