EUROPE'S sovereign-debt crisis has already engulfed Greece, Ireland and Portugal. But the real fear is that it might spread to a large economy. Spain, whose gdp is almost double that of the three rescued countries put together, has long been a source of concern. Although it entered the crisis with relatively low public debt, at just 36% of gdp in 2007, that figure will rise to an estimated 68% by the end of 2011 because of big deficits. Worse, Spain shared several of the smaller economies' weaknesses, like a loss of competitiveness and big current-account deficits.
展开▼
