SPAIN'S PRIVATE SECTOR DEBT - AND NOT ITS GOVERNMENT DEBT - IS COLLOSAL

An important metric in the euro zone debt crisis has been government debt as a percentage of the total economic output, and Spain has a relatively low ratio of 70 percent, compared with 165 percent for Greece and 120 percent for Italy. 

But according to a recent report by McKinsey on global debt, Spain’s nonfinancial private sector debt is 134 percent of gross domestic product, higher than any major economy in the world with the exception of Ireland, where the figures are skewed by the outsize presence of foreign multinationals. Factoring in bank, household and government obligations, the total figure rises to 363 percent of G.D.P., trailing only Japan at 512 percent and Britain at 507 percent. 

“The problem in Spain is not government debt, it’s private sector debt,” said Jonathan Tepper of Variant Perception, a London-based research boutique with a specialty in Spain.

SPAIN'S PROBLEMS ARE NOT THE RESULT OF THE BUSH TAX CUTS, OR UNFUNDED WARS, OR WALL STREET GREED - OR THE 1%.

THE PROBLEM IS PEOPLE AND COMPANIES - BORROWING MORE THAN THEY CAN PAY BACK, AND BANKS LENDING TOO MUCH MONEY TO PEOPLE AND COMPANIES WHO CAN'T PAY IT BACK.

THE PEOPLE WHO PROPERLY MANAGED THEIR FINANCES SHOULD NOT BE FORCED TO PAY FOR THE PEOPLE WHO DIDN'T - THAT REMOVES THE MORAL HAZARD FOR THE BAD FOLKS AND IMPOSES IT ON THE GOOD FOLKS.

IT'S MORALLY UPSIDE-DOWN - SO OF COURSE, IT'S WHAT THE LEFT SUPPORTS.

ICELAND DID IT THE RIGHT WAY; GREECE AND SPAIN SHOULD FOLLOW SUIT: SAY NO TO BAILOUTS; SAY YES TO BANKRUPTCY AND WITHDRAWING FROM THE EURO AND GOING BACK TO CHEAP NATIONAL CURRENCY.

IT WILL IMPROVE THEIR COMPETITIVENESS, AND THEIR DEMOCRACIES.