Protests over Education Cuts

There's a terrible crisis of unemployment in Spain. After a housing bubble burst which was at least as great as what happened in the US, the private sector retrenched dramatically, stretching government resources.

Unlike in the US, the Spanish government cannot invent money; it has to borrow on the bond market. Interest rates have been high, further stressing finances, while revenues plumitted. The European authorities by and large have been stingy with providing funding, responding to northern European sensibilities which tend to view southern Europe as a victim of its own irresponsibility. They say pain will eventually cure the ill.

Meanwhile, Keynesian economists, while not denying that long term problems exist, say the proximate fix is government spending to replace the missing private sector spending.

It's a bit like a smoker who had a heart attack, the austerians are saying smoking leads to heart attacks. Kick the habit! The Keynesians are saying, Administer CPR, the patient should quit smoking once he's recovered.

Since the austerian northerners effectively control the bank, they're having their way, and the patient is nearing death. So these Catalans are responding to the cuts in the way they know: they're out on the street.

It's kind of thrilling to see this democratic protest in action. I hope they suceed, but Spain may have to threaten to, or actually, leave the eurozone, at which point they could spend and tax in their own money again.