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They should have brought down their debts a long time ago. Instead they kept up with their big spending sprees and now look at what happened.
If you don't bring down your spending and national debt, then austerity happens to you. It's not as though their government and politicans really wanted to have austerity.
That's exactly what Spain did going into this crisis. Again, it's not from spending sprees.
They wouldn't be in this situation were it not for their overspending .
As mentioned - they WEREN'T OVERSPENDING.
In 2008 government debt to GDP was a measly 36.1%.
Spannish government spending did increase after that, but only by about 10%. Spain was simply hammered by the recession - and Austerity has made things WORSE - not BETTER.
As mentioned - they WEREN'T OVERSPENDING.
In 2008 government debt to GDP was a measly 36.1%.
Spannish government spending did increase after that, but only by about 10%. Spain was simply hammered by the recession - and Austerity has made things WORSE - not BETTER.
Ken
Passive voice ("was hammered")=alarm bells. Were California, Illinois, and New York also "hammered?" Why weren't Utah, Wyoming, and Nebraska?
Are you people insane? Greece has been given around 400 billion euro's and half their debt has been forgiven. What do you want to just keep shoveling money their way and let em be on their merry spending ways? That's like handing an alcoholic the keys to the liquor store and expecting them to not drink. Gimme a break.
Oh not to mention Greece falsified their budget data in run up to joining the EU.
Passive voice ("was hammered")=alarm bells. Were California, Illinois, and New York also "hammered?" Why weren't Utah, Wyoming, and Nebraska?
EVERYONE was affected - but the impact was not EQUAL EVERYWHERE. In Europe Germany and the Scandinavian countries weathered the crash fairly well - and even places like France did a whole lot better than Spain did - and there are a multitude of reasons for these differences. One thing is CLEAR however, Spain isn't having some many problems simply because it OVERSPENT. It was in pretty shape in that regard.
If you are REALLY interested, you can read up on the difference between Spain and France here:
Are you people insane? Greece has been given around 400 billion euro's and half their debt has been forgiven. What do you want to just keep shoveling money their way and let em be on their merry spending ways? That's like handing an alcoholic the keys to the liquor store and expecting them to not drink. Gimme a break.
Oh not to mention Greece falsified their budget data in run up to joining the EU.
Greece is a different case than Spain. Greece DID have debt problem even BEFORE the Great Recession - when it ALREADY had a debt to GDP ratio of around 100%, so when revenues collapsed as the recession took hold, Greece' debt skyrocketed. Greeks have been living way beyond their means since the early/mod 1990s.
Passive voice ("was hammered")=alarm bells. Were California, Illinois, and New York also "hammered?" Why weren't Utah, Wyoming, and Nebraska?
Why were Tn, Ga, and other Southeast conservative states hit as bad as Ca, Il, and NY from the standpoint of unemployment?
As a red state resident, I wish it were as simple as reside in a red state, and have a good economic climate, but it is not.
I'm sure there are MANY reasons for the EU's dilemma, and quite frankly, given the financial collapse, at our worst point, we may well have outperformed expectations.
Austria, Germany, and the Netherlands are in good shape, all in the 5 pct. range, but Spain and Greece are both over 25%. France is at 10.7 pct.
Unemployment among those under 25 is at 23.9 percent across the EU, and there is talk of a 'lost generation.' A spokesman for the European Commision announced a "new scheme" to ensure that recent grads would get job offers. Details not available, but I don't see what it could be other than a make-program of some sort. In other words, more big government in order to cure problems created by big government. That's just like an alkie taking a drink in an effort to cure his alcoholism.
Unemployment rate in the US isn't that much better.... At least in Europe they all enjoy longer vacations and free health care
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