This Great Graphic was posted on Zero Hedge. The graph is of a rolling 5-year real growth of the Spanish economy. There is a bit of editorializing that distracts from the chart, like attributing the latest leg down in a 40-45 year-old decline as a consequence of Spain's entry into the euro zone. For example, if we made the chart, we would have included China joining the WTO in late 2001 and this accelerated a global division of labor that squeezed cheap labor providers, like the periphery of Europe.
We might also include the fall of the Berlin Wall and the German policy response. The Spanish-American War at the end of the 19th century may have also been included. The regional autonomy, which is at the center of the current constitutional crisis, needs to be understood in the context of the modus vivendi at the end of Franco's rule, but is not on the chart below.
Nevertheless, it is a provocative chart and seems to demonstrate the people's tolerance for falling living standards (using 5-year GDP as a proxy) has limits and those limits are arguably being approached.
Great Graphic: 150 Years of Spain's Ups and Downs
Reviewed by Marc Chandler
on
October 02, 2012
Rating:
Reviewed by Marc Chandler
on
October 02, 2012
Rating:
