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Syndicate
LONDON — Since the beginning of the debt crisis in Europe more than two years ago, defenders of the euro currency union have stuck to a basic argument: if the euro zone’s weaker economies would only keep pursuing policies of austerity, even as growth collapsed and job losses mounted, they would be rewarded by investors more willing to buy their bonds.
Yes, the social cost would be high, but over the long term economies would benefit from the lower interest rates that can come with the seal of approval from global bond investors. Or so goes the argument.
That approach, though, has failed in Greece, Ireland and Portugal. And now it is being severely tested in Spain, where the more the government promises to cut its budget deficit, the more foreigners are unloading their Spanish bond holdings.
Late Thursday, when Standard & Poor’s jumped into the fray by slapping Spanish bonds with a two-notch downgrade, it gave public voice to what investors have been sensing for months now — that it will be nearly impossible for Spain to meet its current deficit-lowering target amid one of the most severe recessions in the euro zone...
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/28/business/global/spain-pursuing-auster...
Investors Flee Spain as Financial Crisis Worsens
http://presstv.com/detail/2012/05/30/243874/investors-flee-spain-as-cris...
"Investors are fleeing Spain as the financial crisis worsens while Madrid battles to contain fears of an economic collapse.."
Euro Falls Amid Fears of Spain Possible Bailout
http://presstv.com/detail/2012/05/30/243849/euro-falls-spain-bailout-fears/
"As the Spanish economic turmoil continues to grow, its borrowing rates approached the 7 percent mark considered unsustainable for governments to service their debt..."
Spain is in 'Total Emergency', the EU in Total Denial
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9307106/Spain-is-in-t...
"After a Spanish exit from the euro there would be nothing left to exit from...The cancer has now spread to the vital organs of the EU."
#23F: mass demonstrations against financial coup in Spain (with video)
Hundreds of thousands take to the streets to denounce austerity and defend democracy as corruption scandals shake Spanish royal house and government.
Europe’s 2013 protest season finally kicked off this week. On Saturday, three days after the umpteenth general strike paralyzed Greece, a “citizens’ wave” of indignation washed over Spain with hundreds of thousands of protesters swarming onto the streets of Madrid and over 80 cities in yet another major popular outcry against the ongoing financial coup d’étât. In Madrid, clashes broke out and at least 40 were arrested after police sought to disperse protesters who had once more encircled Parliament.
Saturday’s demonstration in Spain was deliberately timed to coincide with the 32nd anniversary of El Tejerazo, an attempted coup d’étât by Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Tejero, who in 1981 led a military contingent of 200 armed officers as they stormed into Congress while it was in the process of electing a new Prime Minister. Although King Juan Carlos publicly condemned the coup, Der Spiegel last year revealed secret documents showing that the King privately sympathized with the coup....
http://roarmag.org/2013/02/23f-madrid-spain-austerity-protest/