|
Case
| HBS Case Collection
|
2012
(Revised from original 2009 version)
Spain: Can the House Resist the Storm?
by
Diego A. Comin
|
Abstract
On September 16, 2008, President Rodriguez Zapatero recognized the severity of Spain's macroeconomic situation and clearly pointed to the culprit in front of the Spanish Congress: "Let nobody doubt it; there is already a wide consensus about the origin of the crisis: [It is] in the U.S. and its subprime mortgages." During the last eight years, Spain had gone through a phenomenal expansion that has had many important ingredients: immigration, housing boom, banking and financial market regulation, current account deficit, and productivity growth. This case analyzes how they interacted during the period 2000-2007 and what drove the Spanish recession in 2008.
Keywords: Business Cycles;
Economy;
Financial Crisis;
Macroeconomics;
System Shocks;
Spain;