Between 1996 and 2007 the Spanish economy was one of the fastest growing and most successful economies in Europe. This success, however, came to a halt in 2008 and Spain is now suffering a very painful economic recession. While the global economic crisis has been a significant contributing factor in this downturn, this book will show that domestic imbalances largely help account for the current economic problems. The book examines the reasons for the crisis, analyzes the government's responses, and draws some lessons from the Spanish experience. The book offers an up-to-date assessment of political and economic issues in Spain.

Is globalization forcing "non-coordinated market economies," such as Chile, Mexico, Spain, and Portugal, to converge on an Anglo-American model? What explains national differences in social and economic policies? While theories of comparative economic advantage have dominated discussions of international trade, this book seeks to build on the hypotheses generated by the recent literature on "varieties of capitalism" to demonstrate the impact that institutions have on the national economic policy patterns of these countries.