Subsequently, concern over fiscal conditions spread to Portugal and Ireland, and, in the second half of 2011, further to southern European large countries, Spain and Italy. In Spain, as a housing bubble burst triggered by the Lehman shock, an injection of massive fiscal funds became necessary for the disposal of financial institutions’ nonperforming loans and for economic stimulus, despite a decline in tax revenue.
We are probably all having quite difficult conversations in our jurisdictions at the moment about what transatlantic cooperation – and what international cooperation – can do to achieve a prosperous economy over the coming years and decades. How can cooperation support the goals of prosperity, stability and progress? My personal view is this: our prosperity hinges heavily on the interdependencies of our economies.