Spain the next Argentina?

The Market Oracle, 05/06/2007

Spain is selling off its foreign reserves -- gold, U.S. treasuries, British gilts, baby, bath water -- anything they can get their hands on. The Banco de Espana, reports London's Daily Telegraph, refuses to comment on the wholesale liquidation which, as of this writing includes 80 tonnes of gold. This kind of news, to those of us who have seen this sort of thing previously in places like Argentina, Thailand and Indonesia, will not be taken it lightly. These are the activities that usually come just before the banks close down, stock markets collapse and the populace ends up taking a major financial hit.

Needless to say, all of this argues for gold ownership but few in Spain at this point foresee a problem. All -- with the economy seemingly perking along and the real estate expansion still in progress -- still seems to be as it should be. The bright lights, however, could be blinding investors as to what's ahead. "The current account," says Spanish economist Alberto Mattelan, "is completely out of control. We [Spain] have the worst deficit in our history and worse than any other country in the western world. It has not yet become a 'street concern', but I can assure you that it is of great concern to us economists. This will turn bad over the next 18 months."

Implications for the European Union: Taking this a step further, Tim Congdon, a name familiar to those who read these pages [ America's Deficit, the Dollar & Gold , USAGOLD Gilded Opinion, one of Britain's "wise men" advisors to the government on economic policy] points out that Spain's problems raise some interesting issues for the European Union. In essence, since there is no federal government in Europe, the possibilities for a bailout are minimal. In other words, if there is a real banking crisis, there is no one to guarantee bank deposits, or save the Spanish stock market, unless the European Union somehow recalibrates itself to deal with it. As such, the International Monetary Fund has warned in the past that the EMU is exposed to "systemic financial risk." Add to this a descent in housing prices from lofty highs and you have ingredients for a full blown financial crisis in Spain sometime soon with consequent effects on the rest of Europe and beyond.