Spain
Spain is located in the south-western part of Europe taking just more than four-fifths of the Iberian peninsula. Spain also includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean and some area in Morocco. It is located between both Portugal and France. Spain is surrounded by beautiful beaches and mountaintops. Spain is often thought of as a land that carries an image of pride and privilege. But aside from its impressionable image, it is a struggling country. It is a place where pesetas (currency in Spain) can often be scarce and where the government fights to keep financial steadiness. Spain has given great effort to help support the people of the country. They have done this by using their money to create toll-free highways, fighting for worker's rights, deflate the public deficit, and increase wages. However, Spain is still a flailing capitalist economy that is far behind the leading West European countries' economies even though in the past decade it has made incredible strides toward progressing. Spain has its work cut out for them in the near future in order to stay close with the other West European economies. Although the inflation rate is low, interests rates are low as well. Also
the government has continued to support privatization, liberalization and deregulation of the economy while introducing new tax reforms. Spain has a 20% unemployment rate. That is the highest unemployment rate in the EU. Spain’s diverse capitalist economy will be faced with difficult challenges in the next few years with monetary and other economic policies, and will need a stable government to become more competitive with an already ahead Europe economy. However, Spain has made a great deal of progress, considering its wavering economic past. World War II was the beginning of the distance between Spain and the rest of the European nations. As a result of Spain never entering into the war, the country never received the benefits from the European recovery plans, keeping it in a situation of complete isolation. Then following the Civil War in Spain, an inward-looking development model known as autarky, was adopted as a result to its isolation with its surrounding neighbors in Europe. This economic policy was based on the fact that the Spanish economy had the resources necessary to produce enough on their own without having to depend on other countries to satisfy all of society’s needs while working on developing the economy. However, because of the Spanish economy lacking sufficient raw materials, technology, and size for developing businesses large enough to be competitive and capable of making a good enough amount of capital to import the necessary things for growth, the plan ultimately failed. Then finally the Stabilization Plan of 1959 was designed to open the doors to the entry of goods and foreign capital. The Stabilization Plan was made up of the entry of capital into Spain through tourism, foreign investment, and remittances sent home by Spanish workers who emigrated to more developed European countries. Even though this new economic plan was unstable, it was definitely much more successful than the Autarky economic policy. Also known as a “stop-and-go” policy, it created a more serious use of capital than would have been expected by the physical work capital resources of the country. The work force significantly increased, with the loss of jobs in agriculture, which was the traditional method in which the Spanish earned money, and the growth of the tertiary part, which incorporated women into the workplace. Shipbuilding, steel, chemicals, textiles, and footwear were some of the main industries. Investment is being made in new manufacturing industries, such as information technology and telecommunications equipment. This sector utilized standard technology and based its competitiveness on its cheap labor and its capital on a cheap money monetary system. Eventually, as a result of Spain’s lack of adapting to the rest of the world’s technological advances, there was an economic crisis that broke out in the mid-1970’s. A dramatic rise in the price of oil had an unfortunate affect on Spain’s economic situation, and because it relies so much on oil and because there was a fall in world demand for steel and shipbuilding, Spain became less competitive with the new industrialized countries in South East Asia. As a result, the public deficit increased and there was a steep fall in commercial surpluses. Inflation then followed when the authorities attempted to make amends instead of adjusting the domestic prices and applying an extensive financial policy. The government financed these losses by returning to the currency reserves, therefore, putti
Some topics in this essay:
GDP Spain’s,
European Community,
Stabilization Plan,
Community EEC,
France Spain,
War Spain,
Domestic Product,
West European,
East Asia,
Moncloa Pacts,
spanish economy,
public deficit,
european community,
unemployment rate,
gross formation capital,
policy created,
fiscal policy,
rate unemployment,
gross formation,
formation capital,
labor market,
spain forced live,
spending slashed control,
means spending slashed,
forced live means,
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Approximate Word count = 2349
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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