The Theory of Crisis and the Great Recession in Spain

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvii

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2. Introduction: The Political Economy of the Spanish Crisis

   • Juan Pablo Mateo Tomé

   Pages 1-25

3. Foundations of the Theory of Crisis in the Economic Thought

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 27-27

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   2. The Materialist Conception of the Crisis

      • Juan Pablo Mateo Tomé

      Pages 29-51

   3. Advancing in the Theory of Crisis: Social, Temporal and Geographical Dynamics

      • Juan Pablo Mateo Tomé

      Pages 53-78

   4. Conventional Economics and the Theories of the Possibility of Crisis

      • Juan Pablo Mateo Tomé

      Pages 79-103

4. A Crisis of Capital Valorization: Profitability, Asset Inflation and the Composition of Capital

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 105-105

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   2. The Fall in Profitability Underlying the Great Recession

      • Juan Pablo Mateo Tomé

      Pages 107-133

   3. Construction and the Housing Boom: Analyzing the Price Effect from the Law of Value

      • Juan Pablo Mateo Tomé

      Pages 135-163

   4. Why Does Profitability Fall? Paradoxes of Capital Composition and Labor Productivity

      • Juan Pablo Mateo Tomé

      Pages 165-193

5. Controversies Around the Crisis: Why It Happened, What Should Be Done

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 195-195

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   2. This Time It Was Also the Same: Accumulation of Imbalances and Human Failures

      • Juan Pablo Mateo Tomé

      Pages 197-215

   3. Labor Market, Wages and Crisis

      • Juan Pablo Mateo Tomé

      Pages 217-249

   4. Financialization and Crisis: From Low Interest Rates to a Credit Boom and Over-indebtedness

      • Juan Pablo Mateo Tomé

      Pages 251-282

   5. The Way Out of Crises: From Diagnosis to a Program of Economic Policy

      • Juan Pablo Mateo Tomé

      Pages 283-300

   6. Conclusions: Theory and Practice in the Analysis of the Spanish Economic Crisis

      • Juan Pablo Mateo Tomé

      Pages 301-312

6. Back Matter

   Pages 313-332

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This book has a dual purpose. First, it analyses the concept of economic crises within economic theory, showing the various theoretical foundations and controversies amongst different schools of economic thought. Second, it presents an empirical analysis of the Great Recession in Spain, addressing the growth period of 1995 to 2007-08, the subsequent depression until 2013-14 and the recovery that followed. It also shows the way in which the inner contradictions of capital manifests itself in an European peripheral economy under a real estate bubble, emphasizing the role of the Spanish economy in European capitalism.

This theoretical and empirical heterodox approach will be of interest to students and scholars in political economy, and those with an interest in the Eurozone.

• Spanish recession
• Financial crises
• The logic of capital
• Capital accumulation
• Real estate bubbles
• European capitalism
• Spanish economy
• European Central Bank
• Monetary policy
• Financial deregulation
• Neoliberal economic policies
• Financialisation
• Over-indebtedness
• Labour productivity
• Income distribution
• Asset inflation
• Housing boom
• The Law of Value
• Credit boom

“Juan Pablo Mateo has written a rare, and in these times possibly unique book, whose importance goes well beyond the promise of the title, because through the prism of the Spanish economy, it offers the reader an understanding of the economic malaise not just of this country but of Europe and the industrialised world.” (Alan Freeman, Geopolitical Economy Research Group, University of Manitoba, Canada)

“This unique and original book combines a brilliant review of crisis theories with a sophisticated and nuanced analysis of the recent Spanish crisis. It links excellently its presentation of the analytical deficiencies of Neoclassicism and Keynesianism and Marxism’s explanatory superiority with the evolution of the Spanish economy and its specificities.” (Stavros Mavroudeas, Panteion University, Athens, Greece)

“Juan Pablo Mateo combines both a clear theoretical explanation and meticulous empirical analysis to explain the causes and the impact of the Great Recession on Spain. Nobody has done it better. This is especially timely and relevant as we head towards another recession in Europe.” (Michael Roberts, independent economist, London, UK)

“This book is successful, and its reading stimulating, especially because it manages to hold together not only the theoretical analysis of the crisis of capitalism and the critique of the dominant economic theory, but also the analytical thinking and the concrete study of complex forms that the capitalist crisis can take in a specific social and political formation.” (Rémy Herrera, CNRS─Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne, Paris, France)

“Juan Pablo Mateo, one of the most important Marxist economists in Spain, confirms with this book that it is possible to masterfully combine empirical analysis with a theoretical approach that, based on labor theory of value, places profitability and accumulation at the center of his concern.” (Diego Guerrero, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain)

• University of Valladolid, Segovia, Spain

  Juan Pablo Mateo Tomé

Juan Pablo Mateo Tomé is currently Professor in the Department of Applied Economics, Structure and History, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain. His research specialises in Political Economy, International Economics and Development Economics.

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