We're back in Spain, and Iโve got questions. Why is Spain growing faster than Germany, France, and even the US? Why can they build high-speed rail for a fraction of the cost, and why are they the only major EU country where immigration is boosting GDP without blowing up politics?
This week, we talk to Professor Joe Haslam in Madrid about whatโs being called Europeโs miracle economy. Since COVID, Spainโs growth has outpaced every major European economy, driven by smart immigration (nearly 1 million working Latin Americans), a tourism boom (especially in the cooling north), and โฌ160 billion in EU funds that theyโve actually used. But itโs not all cerveza and sunshine. Spainโs power grid recently collapsed for nine hours, revealing the fragility of the green energy transition. Despite the boom, Spainโs productivity and housing market are heading the wrong way. Public servants now outnumber private sector workers, and even El Guapo himself, PM Pedro Sรกnchez, is afraid to touch buy-to-lets. We also dig into what Spainโs infrastructure success says about Irelandโs failure. Is it Napoleon vs. Wellington all over again? Because if you inherited the Napoleonic state, like Spain did, you can build metros, fast trains, and affordable housing. If you inherited British common law? You get planning objections and overpriced shoeboxes in Drimnagh.
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