IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/series/v5y2014i2p125-141.html

The crisis of the Spanish economy

Author

Listed:
  • Juan Jimeno

  • Tano Santos

Abstract

This article offers a narrative of the Spanish crisis building upon previous literature and the papers published in this issue. This narrative focuses on two main topics: (1) the reasons why the Spanish economy embarked in the expansionary/speculative path resulting in an over-accumulation of debt and severe macroeconomic imbalances that led to the crisis, and (2) the factors that explain why the Spanish crisis materialized with such a high intensity and duration. The article addresses them by highlighting three main characteristics of the Spanish economy in the pre-crisis period: (1) a composition of economic activity increasingly biased towards construction, real state, and other non-tradeable sectors, (2) a banking system that was able to satisfy the huge increase in credit demand arising from households and firms, in a context of very low real interest rates, excessive optimism about growth, and large facilities for using real assets as loan collateral, and (3) the recourse to external funding that originated an unprecedented increase in liabilities with respect to the rest of the world. Copyright The Author(s) 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Juan Jimeno & Tano Santos, 2014. "The crisis of the Spanish economy," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 5(2), pages 125-141, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:series:v:5:y:2014:i:2:p:125-141
    DOI: 10.1007/s13209-014-0116-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s13209-014-0116-8
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s13209-014-0116-8?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jesús Fernández-Villaverde & Luis Garicano & Tano Santos, 2013. "Political Credit Cycles: The Case of the Eurozone," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 27(3), pages 145-166, Summer.
    2. David H. Autor & David Dorn, 2013. "The Growth of Low-Skill Service Jobs and the Polarization of the US Labor Market," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(5), pages 1553-1597, August.
    3. Miguel García-Posada & Juan Mora-Sanguinetti, 2014. "Are there alternatives to bankruptcy? A study of small business distress in Spain," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 5(2), pages 287-332, August.
    4. Ignacio Hernando & Ernesto Villanueva, 2014. "The recent slowdown in bank lending in Spain: are supply-side factors relevant?," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 5(2), pages 245-285, August.
    5. Ozlem Akin & José Montalvo & Jaume García Villar & José-Luis Peydró & Josep Raya, 2014. "The real estate and credit bubble: evidence from Spain," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 5(2), pages 223-243, August.
    6. Hector Sala & Pedro Trivín, 2014. "Labour market dynamics in Spanish regions: evaluating asymmetries in troublesome times," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 5(2), pages 197-221, August.
    7. Brindusa Anghel & Sara Rica & Aitor Lacuesta, 2014. "The impact of the great recession on employment polarization in Spain," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 5(2), pages 143-171, August.
    8. Silvia Merler & Jean Pisani-Ferry, 2012. "Sudden Stops in the Euro Area," Review of Economics and Institutions, Università di Perugia, vol. 3(3).
    9. Enrique Alberola & Ángel Estrada & Daniel Santabárbara, 2014. "Growth and imbalances in Spain: a reassessment of the output gap," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 5(2), pages 333-356, August.
    10. Jorge Roca, 2014. "Wage cyclicality: Evidence from Spain using social security data," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 5(2), pages 173-195, August.
    11. Claudio Borio & Piti Disyatat, 2011. "Global imbalances and the financial crisis: Link or no link?," BIS Working Papers 346, Bank for International Settlements.
    12. Giuseppe Bertola, 2014. "Labor market policies and European crises," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 3(1), pages 1-11, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alberto Martin & Enrique Moral Benito & Tom Schmitz, 2018. "The financial transmission of housing bubbles: evidence from spain," 2018 Meeting Papers 299, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    2. Alberto Martín & Enrique Moral-Benito & Tom Schmitz, 2021. "The Financial Transmission of Housing Booms: Evidence from Spain," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(3), pages 1013-1053, March.
    3. Brunnermeier, Markus & De Gregorio, José & Eichengreen, Barry & El-Erian, Mohamed & Fraga, Arminio & Ito, Takatoshi & Lane, Philip R. & Pisani-Ferry, Jean & Prasad, Eswar & Rajan, Raghuram & Ramos, Ma, 2012. "Banks and cross-border capital flows: challenges and regulatory responses," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 102439, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. Nikolaos Terzidis & Raquel Ortega‐Argilés, 2021. "Employment polarization in regional labor markets: Evidence from the Netherlands," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(5), pages 971-1001, November.
    5. Mark Mink & Jan Jacobs & Jakob de Haan & Jakob de Haan, 2016. "Euro Area Imbalances," CESifo Working Paper Series 6291, CESifo.
    6. Blit, Joel, 2020. "Automation and reallocation: The lasting legacy of COVID-19 in Canada," CLEF Working Paper Series 31, Canadian Labour Economics Forum (CLEF), University of Waterloo.
    7. Maas, Daniel & Mayer, Eric & Rüth, Sebastian K., 2018. "Current account dynamics and the housing cycle in Spain," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 22-43.
    8. Amparo Nagore García & Arthur van Soest, 2017. "New job matches and their stability before and during the crisis," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 38(7), pages 975-995, October.
    9. Alberto Bagnai, 2014. "Un external compact per rilanciare l'Europa," a/ Working Papers Series 1401, Italian Association for the Study of Economic Asymmetries, Rome (Italy).
    10. Jakob de Haan & Jeroen Hessel & Niels Gilbert, 2014. "Reforming the architecture of EMU: Ensuring stability in Europe," DNB Working Papers 446, Netherlands Central Bank, Research Department.
    11. Philip R. Lane, 2013. "Capital Flows in the Euro Area," European Economy - Economic Papers 2008 - 2015 497, Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission.
    12. Alberto Bagnai & Christian Alexander Mongeau Ospina, 2014. "The impact of an exchange rate realignment on the trade balance: Euro vs. national currency - Some preliminary results with a/simmetrie model of the Italian economy," a/ Policy Briefs Series 1401, Italian Association for the Study of Economic Asymmetries, Rome (Italy).
    13. Rabensteiner, Thomas & Guschanski, Alexander, 2025. "Do recessions accelerate routine-biased technological change in Western Europe?," Greenwich Papers in Political Economy 51248, University of Greenwich, Greenwich Political Economy Research Centre.
    14. Leszek Balcerowicz, 2014. "Euro Imbalances and Adjustment: A Comparative Analysis," Cato Journal, Cato Journal, Cato Institute, vol. 34(3), pages 453-482, Fall.
    15. Philip R. Lane, 2013. "Growth And Adjustment Challenges For The Euro Area," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 44(2), pages 273-295.
    16. Kopytov, Alexandr & Roussanov, Nikolai & Taschereau-Dumouchel, Mathieu, 2018. "Short-run pain, long-run gain? Recessions and technological transformation," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 29-44.
    17. Vítor Castro & Rodrigo Martins, 2019. "Political and Institutional Determinants of Credit Booms," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 81(5), pages 1144-1178, October.
    18. Vítor Castro & Rodrigo Martins, 2021. "Why are credit booms sometimes sweet and sometimes sour?," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(2), pages 3054-3074, April.
    19. Pietro Alessandrini & Michele Fratianni & Andrew Hughes Hallett & Andrea Filippo Presbitero, 2012. "External imbalances and financial fragility in the euro area," Mo.Fi.R. Working Papers 66, Money and Finance Research group (Mo.Fi.R.) - Univ. Politecnica Marche - Dept. Economic and Social Sciences.
    20. Raquel Sebastian, 2018. "Explaining job polarisation in Spain from a task perspective," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 9(2), pages 215-248, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • E30 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • F40 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - General
    • G01 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Financial Crises

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:series:v:5:y:2014:i:2:p:125-141. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.