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Luis Ojea: The perfect storm

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Some Galician companies have already reactivated the ERTE and many others have warned that they are also bordering on a limit situation. All of them, in any case, are being affected by a doubly critical scenario: the spiral of price increase and the breakdown of the supply chain caused by the transportation stoppage. The perfect Storm. Also a storm aggravated by the inaction, the lack of empathy, the frivolity, the sectarianism and the irresponsibility of the Government.

Moncloa did not measure well from the beginning. The first big problem is in fact even prior to the beginning of the transporters’ protests: underestimating the impact that the escalation of the energy bill was having on society as a whole – the

electricity, gas and fuels. This, given that they are critical goods throughout the economic chain, led to an inflationary spiral that affects the entire production system and has been punishing both companies and consumers for quite some time. In fact, in November of last year the IPC had already shot up to 5.5%. The beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine aggravates the situation, but it is not the origin of the current crisis no matter how hard Pedro Sánchez tries to divert attention. The “most progressive government in history” lacked empathy to understand the implications that a general increase in prices has been having for months.

This lack of empathy also explains the second big problem: Moncloa underestimated the truckers’ protest. And this led to three blunders. First, accustomed to demonizing anyone who disagrees with the “single thought”, they chose to link the strike with the extreme right. This shows their disconnection from reality, it shows that they did not understand or appreciate the impact that this escalation of the energy bill has had for some time in some economic sectors, particularly transport. Second, trapped in this hoax that the mobilization was a minority, they chose to let the matter slide without at least guaranteeing safe corridors for the circulation of essential goods. This inaction caused the collapse of the supply chain and this forced to reduce or directly stop the production of numerous companies. And third, prisoners of their usual arrogance, they refused until Friday to sit down and talk with the organizers of the protest, thus blocking possible solutions that could have been articulated before reaching the critical point where we are.

And a third big problem still in the management of this crisis. The frivolity and sectarianism of this Government. They entrusted everything to a tour of Pedro Sánchez through a Europe that sees him as a “Don Quixote fighting windmills.” They systematically refused to immediately adopt measures beyond the control of Brussels, as other countries around us have been doing for some time — Germany, Italy, France or Portugal, among others. And to make matters worse, out of pure ideological dogmatism, insist on blocking effective solutions —such as a selective reduction in taxes on electricity, gas and fuel— that would alleviate the critical situation we are in.

Because, it should not be forgotten, we have not reached this critical point solely because of the transport stoppage. The trucker protests are the tip of the iceberg. A very poorly managed crisis that aggravates previous structural imbalances. In fact, the problems for which this sector is mobilized are shared by many others. In fact, throughout society. We are all affected by the escalation of the energy bill and the inflationary spiral. And for the inaction, the frivolity, the lack of empathy, the sectarianism and the irresponsibility of a Government disconnected from reality. A perfect economic storm.

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