Although they share some things in common, each vulnerable euro member's plight is slightly different. The Spanish economy did not get where it is today through a great splurge in public spending and borrowing, as happened in Greece. Indeed, in 2007, the Spanish government's budget was in surplus. Admittedly, last year it was in deficit to the tune of 8pc of GDP. But this was a response to the collapse of the economy, not the cause of it. What did for Spain was the mother and father of a boom in private spending and borrowing, much of it connected with a bubble in the property market. In this sense, the country that ... (full story)