...

Arguably the biggest misconception of all [about Spain]... is that Spain’s economy, the EU’s fourth-largest, is “booming”. According to numerous key metrics, including productivity growth, unemployment, and (most tellingly) surveys of the country’s actual citizens, it isn’t.

...

Compared to other EU countries, it is true that Spain’s GDP growth has been extraordinario in recent years. CaixaBank, the country’s largest domestic lender, reported earlier this week that Spain’s output has risen 10% since 2019, well above the eurozone average of 6.4% and a whopping one hundred times more than Germany’s anaemic 0.1% expansion.

The swift growth also shows little sign of subsiding. Earlier this month, the European Commission and the Bank of Spain both hiked their Spanish growth forecasts for this year to 2.9% – more than double the EU’s 1.4% average projected expansion. “Real GDP growth is expected to remain strong in 2025,” the Commission noted, adding that “economic activity” is also expected to “remain robust” until 2027.

...

But as José Boscá, an economist at the FEDEA think tank in Madrid, points out, Spain’s GDP data “is not so promising” when adjusted for its population growth, which has also swelled in recent years. “If we only assess economic growth based on GDP data, there are factors that we are not taking into consideration,” Boscá said.

Indeed, Spain’s GDP growth is largely a direct consequence of its growing population. Soaring immigration – especially from Latin America – has caused Spain’s overall population to surge in recent years, and, predictably, has also caused its total output and consumption to rise.

According to the Elcano Royal Institute, the country’s immigrant population has risen by roughly 600,000 people per year since the end of the pandemic, pushing its population to a record high of just under 50 million. Roughly one in five people now living in Spain were born abroad.

In addition to boosting net output, the influx of workers has boosted government revenue and, by tempering wage rises, has helped keep inflation barely a fraction above the European Central Bank’s 2% target rate.

...

But it has also exacerbated Spain’s chronic shortage of affordable housing and compounded the country’s cost-of-living crisis – especially for young people, the vast majority of whom still live with their parents and a quarter of whom are currently unemployed. According to the latest available data from Eurostat, the average Spaniard only leaves home at the age of 30: well above the bloc’s average of 26.

...

Profound structural obstacles remain. These include high government debt-to-GDP levels inherited from the eurozone crisis and pandemic; widespread unemployment; and political instability partly engendered by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s minority government, which has been mired in corruption scandals involving his inner circle. Due to the political dysfunction, Spain hasn’t managed to pass a new budget since 2022, forcing the government to rollover the 2023 budget, even as its booming population and robust tax revenues have created a new reality in the country.

That said, not even a new budget would address Spain’s biggest problem: low productivity. Boscá noted that this is largely a result of the composition of Spain’s industrial sector, where 99.8% of firms are small and medium-sized enterprises consisting of fewer than 10 employees. This industrial landscape inevitably curtails productivity growth and domestic investment.

...

Spain, in short, is growing – just not in the way many headlines suggest. Strip out the population surge and the picture looks far less miraculous. And unless productivity finally stirs, the boom will remain more statistical than real. For a country long burdened by clichés, it may turn out that the greatest misconception of all wasn’t about siestas or sangria, but about the strength of its comeback.

Archived link

Lile seriously Do you hate hexbear do you want it to not make money do you not want your network activity tracked and sold across sites?????? We NEED your cookies and your eyeballs and your clicks so we can make money off you

A new leak claims that a Half-Life 3 announcement might have been delayed due to the Steam Machine price. According to the insider, Valve is still trying to determine the console’s cost due to skyrocketing hardware component prices, such as RAM.

Rather than directly banning Medicaid reimbursement for transgender care, the rule would bar any hospital that accepts Medicaid funding from providing gender-affirming care for trans youth at all, regardless of whether that care is paid for by Medicaid.

The new rule contains no exceptions for patients already receiving care... For many, this would amount to forced medical detransition.

This rule appears to violate multiple U.S. statutes and constitutional limits on federal authority.

The government attempts to get around this by stating that gender affirming care is not part of “the practice of medicine.”

Hello my beloved bears I am back from my intensive 4 month emoji analysis

Clair Obscur won multiple awards but used generative AI art as placeholders during production.

The Indie Game Awards revoked Clair Obscur’s Debut and Game of the Year after the AI disclosure.

IGAs reassigned the awards (Blue Prince, Sorry We’re Closed) and reignited debate on gen-AI use.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/55399131

"This isn't a truce, it's a bloodbath," said a relative of some of the victims, who included women, an infant, and a teenage girl.

Archived version: https://archive.is/newest/https://www.commondreams.org/news/gaza-school-shelter-massacre

Disclaimer: The article linked is from a single source with a single perspective. Make sure to cross-check information against multiple sources to get a comprehensive view on the situation.

A classic Australian soap opera, a British meteorologist and an illicit computer game. In the latest instalment of our series Archival Obsessions, the NFSA's Digital Games Curator, Chris Arneil, unveils the story behind 'Neighbours: The Adventure' – an unauthorised 1991 game created by a devoted UK-based fan of the show.

Criminal mastermind at work, ladies and gentlemen.

I notice a common pattern for voicing characters like Sméagol (Lord of the Rings), Stitch (Lilo & Stitch), Mogwai (Gremlins), and Jar Jar Binks (Star Wars Ep. 1) that involves falsetto and raising the back of the tongue to the roof of the mouth while talking. Is there a common name for that technique?

State-backed experimental network spans 40 cities and targets AI and deterministic networking.

Redstar Runner. I dont really have anything but the premise here.

This second tanker is not on a list of vessels sanctioned by the U.S., a source said.

Venezuela's minister of the interior, Diosdado Cabello, condemned the operation in a Saturday post on Instagram.

"The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela denounces and rejects the theft and hijacking of a new private vessel transporting Venezuelan oil, as well as the forced disappearance of its crew, committed by military personnel of the United States of America in international waters," Cabello said.

Saturday's operation comes after the U.S. interdicted a large, sanctioned oil tanker known as the Skipper off the coast of Venezuela last week. The ship, previously identified by the Treasury Department as the Adisa, is an oil tanker tied to a sanctions-evading smuggling network that U.S. officials say moved Iranian oil to generate revenue for Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard.

“Just know that if you see someone that looks like me at a Republican event

appeared on opposing ends of an extremely public redistricting debate

cross-posted from: https://news.abolish.capital/post/14867

Jake Paul is an influencer-turned boxer who’s famous for fighting retirees. He also came out to support Donald Trump in 2024 alongside the violent rapist Conor McGregor:

Paul Brothers with Conor McGregor for the inauguration for Donal Trump pic.twitter.com/JZtDwSqAel

— Mcgregor Forever (@mcgregorufc22) January 20, 2025

Now, Paul has finally done something which people can rally behind, and that’s getting his jaw broken in two places:

Jake Paul is an absolute embarrassment to the sport of boxing. A fraud who buys his way into fights against legitimate champions like Anthony Joshua, only to get knocked out in the sixth round after clinching, flopping, and running like a coward. He has no real skill or heart… pic.twitter.com/9JSPqi9LS2

— Zenith (@ZenithTheNinja) December 20, 2025

A Paul-ing

As the New York Times reported, Jake Paul has fought 13 matches since becoming what they describe as a “professional” boxer. The reason we’re not so sure that wording is appropriate is because only five of those 13 bouts were against boxers (including a 58-year-old Mike Tyson). Paul has also boxed against two retired MMA fighters, cementing the impression that he’s the least professional boxer in the profession:

Jake Paul is the biggest clown on earth and has done irrefutable damage to boxing. Those who know, know.

Anthony Joshua getting the KO is karma for YEARS for so many REAL boxers and fighters that Paul disrespected, and had rigged fights with. pic.twitter.com/m4UiUWcJ1n

— Robby The Brain (@RobbyTheBrain) December 20, 2025

That was so embarrassing for boxing and hopefully the end of the Jake Paul bullshit in the ring

— Wu Tang is for the Children (@WUTangKids) December 20, 2025

The fight between Paul and Anthony Joshua lasted for six rounds, and it ended when Paul found himself unable to get back up in time following repeated knockdowns. People took great joy in sharing images and videos from the knockdowns:

THE MOMENT YOU’VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR.

Jake Paul’s final moments against Anthony Joshua… pic.twitter.com/NCI2OktHB1

— george (@StokeyyG2) December 20, 2025

It later came out that Joshua broke Paul’s jaw, with Paul himself sharing an X-ray:

Double broken jaw. Give me Canelo in 10 days. pic.twitter.com/8R8NK4OeUv

— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) December 20, 2025

Jake Paul has gone to the hospital with a suspected broken jaw. pic.twitter.com/Fwb459Exmy

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) December 20, 2025

People also suggested Joshua went easy on Paul:

There’s going to be a ton of “respect to Jake Paul for even taking this fight”

BUT F**K THAT… there are 7 billion people on this earth that would have done that to triple their net worth.

He didn’t even do that. Joshua could have put him out cold at any moment he wanted. pic.twitter.com/Opd1pUrrra

— Super Fan (@McGregorRousey2) December 20, 2025

incredibly satisfying watching jake paul get the shit beaten out of him especially after anthony joshua stop playing with his food after the 5th round

— hasanabi (@hasanthehun) December 20, 2025

They further drew attention Paul’s interesting fighting style (or ‘avoiding fighting’ style, you might say):

Wild stat: Jake Paul shot 13 takedown attempts against Anthony Joshua while landing just 16 total punches

A boxing record that will absolutely never be broken

Takedown attempt number 9 seemed to be when AJ had finally had enough. pic.twitter.com/lvT4oLKaK9

— AFeldmanMMA (@afeldMMA) December 20, 2025

Jake Paul: Trump love in

As noted, Jake Paul threw his weight behind Donald Trump in the 2024 election:

In the text for the above video, Paul noted:

I was very hesitant to make this video, but I felt like I had no choice. This is the most important election in U.S history. If you are a U.S citizen, please exercise your right to vote, and let’s come together to save America. This is who I am supporting in the 2024 Presidential Election… and why you should too.

He added:

make the right choice, and exercise your right to vote… America depends on it

On the same day that Paul was getting his clock rung, Trump was breaking the law by not releasing the so-called Epstein Files (files which many believe will incriminate him personally). Meanwhile, the American economy is showing significant signs of trouble, and millions of people are facing the loss of their healthcare.

So yeah, it’s not for nothing that people wanted to see this guy get knocked out.

Imagine if Jake Paul getting knocked out was the first domino to fall in things finally taking a turn for the better in the world.

— Blockhead (@BlockheadNYC) December 20, 2025

Featured image via PBS

By Willem Moore

From Canary via This RSS Feed.

Dim Sum bond sales hit record; overseas yuan loans soar

Bankers see robust demand from issuers and investors

China's overseas bank lending has tripled in four years to 2.52 trillion yuan and sales of onshore and offshore yuan debt are at or near records for the second year running.

"I think this phase is now really more driven by fundamental interest in renminbi funding," said Samuel Fischer, Deutsche Bank's head of China onshore debt capital markets