Economic policies in the face of crises.
The Spanish historical experience: teachings.
Summary
The 2007-08 crisis highlighted the need to analyze the effectiveness of economic policies in turbulent times and what measures and instruments can be used to actively confront depressions. The main objective of this project is to analyze the nature and impact of the great Spanish economic crises of the last two centuries and the political responses adopted after each one of them. The project focuses on: (1) the economic consequences of the crises in their different dimensions (growth, trade, labor market…); (2) the way in which the crises have been resolved, if the procedure has been “natural”, that is, without state intervention, or if the public powers intervened and took measures to confront the crisis and (3) we also intend to evaluate and measure the effects of the policies implemented. While the current debate focuses on monetary and fiscal policies, our analysis seeks to broaden the scope and consider other research areas such as exchange, trade, or other sectoral policies. The project aims at learning lessons for the present by examining the impact of crises in the past, how the Spanish economy was able to recover, what measures have been used in Spanish economic history to deal with the depression and what has been the real effectiveness of different policies. Given the relevance of comparative history, our project intends to carry out a comparative economic history exercise in order to examine the possible specificities of the Spanish case in the face of international experience.
Research team
Concha Betrán Pérez
Francisco Comín Comín (Universidad de Alcalá)
Joaquim Cuevas Casaña
Pablo Martín Aceña (Universidad de Alcalá)
Elena Martínez Ruiz (Universidad de Alcalá)
Pilar Nogués-Marco (Universidad Carlos III)
M. Ángeles Pons Brias