Das spanische Modell

Prior to the debacle of 2008,Spain’s economy was an object of particular admiration for Western commentators. In thecontext of the global crisis, however, Spain has been hovering on the brink of classification asa case for Eurozone bail-out, following Greece, Ireland and Portugal. We borrow from RobertBrenner’s concept of ‘asset-price Keynesianism’ in order to analyse the recent crash of theSpanish economy as well as its social and political consequences. The bursting of the Spanishbubble has torn the veil from a highly polarized social order, with a large proportion of thepopulation deep in debt, many out of work and dependent on public services doubly hit byspending cuts and privatization.Prior to the debacle of 2008,Spain’s economy was an object of particular admiration for Western commentators. In thecontext of the global crisis, however, Spain has been hovering on the brink of classification asa case for Eurozone bail-out, following Greece, Ireland and Portugal. We borrow from RobertBrenner’s concept of ‘asset-price Keynesianism’ in order to analyse the recent crash of theSpanish economy as well as its social and political consequences. The bursting of the Spanishbubble has torn the veil from a highly polarized social order, with a large proportion of thepopulation deep in debt, many out of work and dependent on public services doubly hit byspending cuts and privatization