Why not rescue the banks instead of rescuing Spain?

The author contends that Spain's economic crisis stems from a real estate bubble and high private debt rather than irresponsible public spending. They argue that austerity policies are counterproductive, increasing unemployment and public debt. The text proposes a European bank bailout fund funded by banks (similar to the US FDIC) and the use of Eurobonds to protect against interest rate spikes, while suggesting green taxes and estate taxes as alternatives to social cuts.

• The author asserts that Spain's economic crisis was not caused by irresponsible public spending, noting that national debt was only 42% of GDP at the start of the 2007 crisis. Instead, the crisis is attributed to high private debt among households, companies, and financial entities resulting from a large real estate bubble.
• Austerity policies are described as aggravating the crisis by causing economic output to fall sharply, which in turn increases the debt ratio and budget deficit. The author notes that unemployment in Spain reached 23%, with youth unemployment exceeding 50%.
• The document proposes replacing national-level rescues with a European bank bailout fund funded by a bank levy, modeled after the US FDIC. This mechanism would separate banking risk from government risk, preventing the increase of Spanish government debt associated with the European Financial Stability Facility.
• To mitigate interest rate volatility and avoid damaging austerity, the author suggests the implementation of a fund for old debt funded by common Eurobonds, as proposed by the German expert council.
• The author suggests that instead of social cuts to health and education, governments should increase estate taxes and introduce green taxes to transition toward a greener economy.

APA

de Uralde, G. S. J. L. (2012). Why not rescue the banks instead of rescuing Spain? Green European Journal. https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/why-not-rescue-the-banks-instead-of-rescuing-spain/

Chicago

de Uralde, Gerhard Schick, Juan López. Why not rescue the banks instead of rescuing Spain? Green European Journal, 2012. https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/why-not-rescue-the-banks-instead-of-rescuing-spain/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=de Uralde |first1=Gerhard Schick, Juan López |title=Why not rescue the banks instead of rescuing Spain? |publisher=Green European Journal |date=11 August 2012 |url=https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/why-not-rescue-the-banks-instead-of-rescuing-spain/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{deuralde2012why, author = {de Uralde, Gerhard Schick, Juan López}, title = {{Why not rescue the banks instead of rescuing Spain?}}, publisher = {Green European Journal}, year = {2012}, month = aug, url = {https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/why-not-rescue-the-banks-instead-of-rescuing-spain/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }