Editorial Board
Spain’s Slump Means Europe Must Rethink Tough-Love Policy
This article is for subscribers only.
Spain is the crucial front in Europe’s battle to contain its economic crisis, and the fight is going badly.
Spain’s economy is in a tailspin. Some forecasters say the unemployment rate, already a punishingly high 24.4 percent, could reach 30 percent. The government’s credit rating has just been downgraded, and its cost of borrowing -- close to 6 percent -- is putting its solvency in question. Investors are watching the country’s banks with mounting concern.