Spanish Economy - After the Fiesta

The Spanish economy is in trouble after out-performing the rest of the Euro Zone for the last decade.  Download this special feature on the Spanish Economy…

Spain is one of the top ten economies in the world and the 4th largest economy within the 16-member Euro Area. Spain has enjoyed strong economic growth over the last decade but this has now come shuddering to a halt. The economy became over-dependent on construction/property - with construction alone accounting for over 7% of total GDP. Construction is now deep in recession and the negative housing multiplier effects - on producers of construction materials, estate agents, household appliances) are proving to be large. Tourism is also suffering from the strong Euro (fewer UK tourists and some ex-pats leaving for home) and the farming industry (e.g. citrus production faces stiff competition from North Africa). The government fiscal deficit is already over 3% of GDP and the country’s AAA rating on government debt has been downgraded making it harder and more expensive for the state to finance a fiscal recovery programme.

Key points from the resource (see links below)

- Spain likely to see a 3.5% decline in GDP in 2009 – the first recession since 1993
- The return of mass unemployment after 10 years of labour market successes
- Real danger of price deflation
- Fiscal deficit will balloon to more than 6% of GDP
- Economy became over-dependent on a booming property sector which has now gone into reverse – over 1m empty new homes
- Very high level of private sector debt (similar to Ireland)
- Spanish manufacturing businesses seem to be affected more by the credit crunch than elsewhere in the Euro Zone

The following material will help your students conduct their rapid revision on the European and Spanish Economy - useful for students preparing for the AQA Unit 4 paper in June.

Access interactive version of presentation

Download PowerPoint presentation

Download pdf handout version

Economics Explained, by Evan [12 Feb 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: China’s Trade Engine is Spluttering [10 Feb 2012]
Martin Wolf on Global Shocks [10 Feb 2012]
Trucks are the new way of measuring debt [1 Feb 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Growth and Development - Some Indicators [30 Jan 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Focus on China - Changing Economic Structure [26 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Focus on India - World’s Cheapest Computer [26 Jan 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Can China Stay Competitive [25 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Focus on India - Economic Growth [24 Jan 2012]
Unit 3 Micro: 3D Printing and a Manufacturing Revolution [23 Jan 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Exporting to the Booming Chinese Economy [23 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Money, Debt and the New World Order [22 Jan 2012]
France and Flexible Employment [22 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Russia Joins the WTO [22 Jan 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Living below the Breadline [19 Jan 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Videos on Productivity [17 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: France loses her AAA credit rating [15 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Economics of Fiscal Deficit Reduction [12 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Competitive Advantage in Trade (Some Videos) [12 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: UK Bond Yields Reach Record Lows [11 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Does Manufacturing Matter? [10 Jan 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Factors Driving Business Investment [10 Jan 2012]
Hopes and Fears 2012 [10 Jan 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: A Jobs Boost for the US Economy [8 Jan 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Revision Quiz on Economics of Unemployment [5 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Video Resources on Unemployment [3 Jan 2012]
Unit 1 Micro: Low Cost Airlines Beat the Recession [1 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Exchange Rate Economics - Where next for the US Dollar? [31 Dec 2011]
Spain opts for more austerity in 2012 [31 Dec 2011]
European Economics: Resources on the CAP [28 Dec 2011]
2011 in Review - The US Economy [27 Dec 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: The UK Housing Market in 2011 [26 Dec 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: Brazil Overtakes UK in Economic Size [26 Dec 2011]
The Eurozone Crisis Explained (again!) [22 Dec 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: The Rise in Self Employment [17 Dec 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: Long Term Unemployment - A Human Story [15 Dec 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: Celebrating (?) Ten Years of Euro Notes and Coins [2 Dec 2011]
Unit 1 Micro: Inside a Biscuit Factory [1 Dec 2011]
Unit 3 Micro: Hope Bikes - A Commitment to Excellence [30 Nov 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: Does UK Manufacturing have a Future? [30 Nov 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: Will a Youth Jobs Subsidy Work? [30 Nov 2011]
Where is the UK Economy? National Output [22 Nov 2011]
UK unemployment in November 2011 - a video overview [22 Nov 2011]
Beyond the Bike - What is the value of life in Africa? [19 Nov 2011]
Beyond the Bike - The Value of Money [19 Nov 2011]
Pasty Prices - Something to Chew Over [19 Nov 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: A Prezi on Unemployment Policies [16 Nov 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: Should the EU introduce a Tobin Tax? [14 Nov 2011]
AS Macro: The State of British Business [13 Nov 2011]
Eurozone crisis - a selection of resources [12 Nov 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: America’s hour-glass economy [9 Nov 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: Video Clips on Unemployment [6 Nov 2011]
Unit 3 Micro: Impulses to Change Management Models [5 Nov 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: Richard Florida on the Great Reset [5 Nov 2011]
Unit 3 Micro: Time of Use Pricing for Energy [2 Nov 2011]
Unit 3 Micro: Economies of Scale and the Kinect [31 Oct 2011]
Unit 1 Micro: Google Maps to Charge for Usage [31 Oct 2011]
Unit 3 Micro: Price Discrimination in the E-Book Market [31 Oct 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: Unemployment Chart Resource Download [29 Oct 2011]
Unit 1 Micro: Is the Sun Dipping on Solar Subsidies? [27 Oct 2011]
Unit 1 Micro: University fees and elasticity of demand [24 Oct 2011]
Unit 1 Micro: Economists attack food price speculation [24 Oct 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: A Widening Regional Divide in Life Expectancy [19 Oct 2011]
Unit 3 Micro: Tesco Behaving Badly - Price Anchoring [17 Oct 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: Positive and Negative Multiplier Effects [14 Oct 2011]
Can the “invisible hand” solve Africa’s poverty? [13 Oct 2011]
UK Unemployment in October 2011 [12 Oct 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: Unit Labour Costs and Inflation [12 Oct 2011]
Skidelsky in Madrid [12 Oct 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: UK suffers a weak recovery [12 Oct 2011]
Why Is Macroeconomics Such A Mess? [11 Oct 2011]
NMW: Classical real-wage unemployment [3 Oct 2011]
Unit 1 Micro: Homework Assignment on Market Prices [2 Oct 2011]
Unit 1 Micro: The Supply and Demand Rap! [28 Sep 2011]
Unit 1 Micro: Exercise on Equilibrium Market Prices [27 Sep 2011]
Putting the “discrimination” into price discrimination! [26 Sep 2011]
Unit 1 Micro: Exercise on Market Demand [25 Sep 2011]
Greek debt decision tree [25 Sep 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: Greek Economy at Default’s Door [25 Sep 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: Greece on the Brink of Default [25 Sep 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: IMF Flags up Risks of Double Dip [20 Sep 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: Bangladesh and Comparative Advantage in Textiles [19 Sep 2011]
Study Note - Macroeconomic policy objectives [16 Sep 2011]
Study Note - Value Added and Contributions to a Nation’s GDP [16 Sep 2011]
Study Note - What is Macroeconomics? [13 Sep 2011]
Public vs Private Sector - the world’s largest employers. [12 Sep 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: Income and Wealth in the UK [12 Sep 2011]
UK Macro: Risks of a Double Dip Recession [12 Sep 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: Value Added in Production and GDP [11 Sep 2011]
Mixing with the Nobel Economists [4 Sep 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: Baltic Dry Index and Global Weakening [19 Aug 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: GDP per person since the credit crunch [19 Aug 2011]
Unit 1 Micro: The Price of Football [2 Aug 2011]
Capital labour substitution at FoxConn [2 Aug 2011]
hiphopnomics [31 Jul 2011]
“We need to make more stuff, using the same number of people…” [16 Jul 2011]
Unit 1 Micro: Cotton Prices and the Retail Price of Clothing [13 Jul 2011]
What might happen on August 2nd? [12 Jul 2011]
Unit 1 Micro: Economics of Volatile Corn Prices [12 Jul 2011]
Unit 3 Micro: Motorsport Valley and External Economies of Scale [12 Jul 2011]

ECONOMICS TEACHER RESOURCE NEWSLETTER

Join over 6,000 other Economics Teachers in the UK and around the world who receive the tutor2u regular Economics Resource Email Newsletter. Get special offers, first news of latest resources, teaching ideas, conferences and workshops + loads of great ideas for teaching economics from our blog authors.