THE loan package was meant to fix Spain’s woes. But on July 20th, as the euro zone agreed a bail-out of up to €100 billion ($121 billion) for its troubled banks, the country’s borrowing costs rose dizzily. Five days later the yield on ten-year bonds hit an unsustainable 7.75%, while Madrid’s stock exchange plunged to the levels of March 2003. Talk of a bail-out for the euro zone’s fourth-biggest economy grew louder (see article). It would cost a frightening €385 billion to the end of 2014.
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