The Limits Of Economic Growth In Spain

In the 1950s and 1960s, Spain underwent one of the most rapid processes of economic development the world had ever seen. Most existing analyses of this process explain the “Spanish Miracle” as a product of the unleashing of market forces and of changes in economic policy made by the Franco regime in the 1950s. Political Economy of the Spanish Miracle provides an alternative explanation of Spanish economic development, analyzing the Miracle from an interdisciplinary political economy perspective that treats capitalist growth as a complex and dynamic interaction between capitalists, workers and the state. The Spanish Miracle is linked to changes in Spanish society produced by the Spanish Civil War, to the class structure of the regime brought to power by that Civil War and to the interaction between domestic social struggles under the Franco regime and Spain’s insertion into the international political economy of the Cold War capitalist world. Ambitious in scope, Political Economy of the Spanish Miracle both revises conventional understandings of Spanish economic growth and situates Spain within comparative discussions of development in the twentieth century. This book will be of great interest to readers in political economy, economic sociology, historical sociology and Spanish and European history more broadly.

Spain is at the epicentre of a crisis that threatens the future of the Eurozone. This book explains the deep historical and structural roots of the current crisis in Spain. It analyses the nexus between European circuits of financial capital, urbanisation, and the emergent dynamics of state austerity and popular revolt.

First Published in 2005. This title studies the 1981 insurrection of the Spanish 'Guardia Civil', motivated by political and economic factors. The politico-economic causes of the February incident have been succinctly summarized and traced the institutional causality which explains the peculiarities of contemporary Spanish development. Within are chapters on Spanish agriculture, policies, the industrial revolution, and the economic crisis.

​This book analyses the main historical turning points in the Spanish economy and the related challenges it faced. It focuses on six turning points that changed the direction of the Spanish economy, and identifies the economic, social or political origin of these watersheds. It also compares the Spanish trajectory with the international one, exploring the macroeconomic context in which these turning points happened, as well as the external and internal constraints on domestic political choices for a small country like Spain. The book focuses on how Spain faced up to each turning point, the reforms that were implemented, the differences between the Spanish response and that of other countries, the results of the policies enacted and what problems were not tackled. This is an interesting and unique perspective as most of the turning points in economic history are generally studies from the viewpoint of core countries such as the UK, US or Germany. The ultimate objective is to learn useful lessons from Spanish economic history in order to better face future turning points.

After the death of longtime dictator Generalissimo Franco in 1975, King Juan Carlos acted decisively to institute a dramatic change in Spanish politics. By appointing an unknown Christian democrat, Adolfo Suarez, as prime minister, the king paved the way for the transformation of Spain from an authoritarian regime to a liberal democracy. Central to this singular transition was the formulation of the new Spanish constitution, an unusual process of political give and take. Dr. Bonime-Blanc examines the evolutionary phases of the constitution-making process, describing the conflicts, maneuvers, and compromises of the principal political players involved. Analyzing the negotiations and their constitutional results, she pinpoints the factors that make a successful transition to democracy possible. In her closing chapter, the author illustrates the lessons of the Spanish case and their practical implications for future transitions to democracy.

This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. This text offers a comprehensive and nuanced view of the economic development of Spain since 1850. It provides a new set of historical GDP estimates for Spain from the demand and supply sides, and presents a reconstruction of production and expenditure series for the century prior to the introduction of modern national accounts. The author splices available national accounts sets over the period 1958–2015 through interpolation, as an alternative to conventional retropolation. The resulting national accounts series are linked to the historical estimates providing yearly series for GDP and its components since 1850. On the basis of new population estimates, the author derives GDP per head, decomposed into labour productivity and the amount of work per person, and placed into international perspective. With theoretical reasoning and historiographical implications, Prados de la Escosura provides a useful methodological reference work for anyone interested in national accounting. Open Access has been made possible thanks to Fundación Rafael del Pino's generous support. You can find the full dataset here: http://espacioinvestiga.org/bbdd-chne/?lang=en ‘This book stands among the classics for the Kuznetian paradigm in empirical economics. This is the definitive study of Spain's transition to a modern economy.’ —Patrick Karl O'Brien, Emeritus Fellow at St. Antony’s College, the University of Oxford, UK, and Professor Emeritus of Global Economic History at the London School of Economics and Political Science, UK ‘The definitive account of Spanish economic growth since 1850, based firmly on a magisterial reconstruction of that country’s national accounts and an unrivalled knowledge of both Spanish and global economic history of the period.’ —Stephen Broadberry, Professor of Economic History at Nuffield College, the University of Oxford, UK