????西班牙人于當地時間20日投票選舉產生了新一屆保守黨政府，期望高層的變更能幫助國家走出經濟困境。但新一屆領導人能否有所作為，拯救這個正陷入債務泥沼的國家，目前依然是個未知數。

????雖然政府這些年來一直實施審慎的財政政策，但西班牙普通家庭和企業好像成為了私募股權基金的收購對象似的，債務水平持續升高。鑒于西班牙的經濟增長前景暗淡，失業率高得難以想象，這些債務或許很快就會成為馬德里的問題；而隨著這一問題擴散至歐元區，它又將反過來成為法蘭克福的麻煩。

????2004年以來，西班牙一直處于由何塞?路易斯?羅德里格斯?薩帕特羅領導的社會黨政府的治理之下。社會黨政府執政的這幾年可以說是自西班牙帝國發現新世界以來經濟最繁榮的時期之一。但與16世紀受黃金驅動的繁榮不同，這一次是受債務驅動的。2008年的信貸危機切斷了經濟的生命線，進而讓這段延續了差不多10年的繁榮期宣告終結。西班牙現在必須弄清楚的是，如何利用危機后殘存的資本，實現經濟增長。

????數年來，由馬里亞諾?拉霍伊長期擔任黨魁的西班牙人民黨一直憋著一股勁，期待著重掌權力的那一天。上周日的選舉中，這個秉持保守主義立場的政黨獲得了壓倒性勝利，在眾議院獲得絕對多數席位。這樣，人民黨不僅贏得了首相一職，還可以憑借強有力的授權，在議會通過該黨試圖獲取的任何法案。

????要想坐穩執政黨的位置，人民黨就必須采取一些大膽的舉措，幫助支離破碎的西班牙經濟擺脫陰霾。人民黨于11月份發布了一份厚重的文件，概述了部分執政目標。這份文件充斥著保守主義詞藻（減稅，終結大政府等等），但對具體的措施則輕描淡寫。人們普遍認為，人民黨將延續社會黨政府實行的緊縮措施，但也會著手對小企業減稅。人民黨不會像社會黨曾提議的那樣，提高針對富人的稅收，但它將削減政府補貼。

尋找工作

????盡快讓人們找到工作是人民黨和西班牙生存下去的關鍵所在。人民黨的主要提議之一是，從根本上改革西班牙的勞動法，降低企業聘用和解雇員工的難度。危機期間，盡管政府推出了大規模的經濟刺激計劃，并對銀行實施了緊急援助，但西班牙的失業率依然持續攀升。10月份的失業率是21.2%，為歐洲之冠。與此同時，年輕人的失業率創下了令人難以置信的新高——46.2%。要知道，美國“大蕭條”時期的失業率水平也不過如此啊！

????但對于高失業率，西班牙人早已見怪不怪了。事實上，可以認為西班牙的經濟增長是由債務驅動的。一直到上世紀90年代中后期，也就是信貸危機和歐元啟動之前，西班牙的失業率一般都維持在20%左右。西班牙年輕人往往需要出國尋找工作，把賺到的錢寄回國內，很好地促進了家鄉經濟的發展。

????Spaniards voted in a new conservative government yesterday on hopes that a change at the top could help save the country from its economic woes. But it's unclear if the country's new leaders can do anything to save a nation that is drowning in debt.

????While the government has been fiscally prudent over the years, Spanish households and companies have been levered up like they were private equity takeovers. With limited growth prospects and an unimaginably high unemployment rate, those debts could soon become Madrid's problem, which in turn would become Frankfurt's problem as it spills over into the eurozone.

????Spain's Socialist government, led by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, has governed the nation since 2004, during what was arguably one of the biggest economic booms for the country since Imperial Spain discovered the New World. But unlike the 16th century boom, which was fueled by gold, this one was fueled by debt. The boom, which lasted for most of the last decade, imploded in 2008 when the credit crunch cut off its life blood. Spain's economy now has to figure out how it will grow using whatever capital it has left.

????The conservative Partido Popular (PP) party, led by long-time party boss Mariano Rajoy, has been chomping at the bit to get back in power for years. The party won a resounding victory on Sunday, claiming an absolute majority in the lower house of parliament. That gives it not only the prime minster position, but also a strong mandate to pass whatever legislation it basically wants.

????To remain in power, the PP will need to undertake some bold initiatives to help pull Spain's broken economy out of the gutter. In October, the party released a thick document outlining some of its goals. It was heavy on conservative rhetoric – cutting taxes and ending big government – but light on specifics. It is believed that the PP will continue the austerity measures instituted by the Socialists, but will also move to cut taxes on small businesses. It will not raise taxes on the rich, as the Socialists had proposed, and will instead cut government subsidies and the like.

Finding jobs

????Getting people back to work as soon as possible is imperative if the PP and Spain are to survive. One of the PP's key proposals is to radically overhaul the nation's labor laws, making it easier to hire and fire people. The country's unemployment rate has continued to grow during the crisis despite all the massive government stimulus packages and bank bailouts. Unemployment tipped the scales in October at 21.2%, the highest in Europe. Its youth unemployment rate, meanwhile, hit a mind-bogglingly high 46.2%. To give some perspective, those unemployment levels are near where they were in the United States during the Great Depression.

????But the Spanish are used to high unemployment; in fact, one could see the Spanish economy taking a debt-fueled round trip. Up until the mid to late 1990s, before credit and the euro, unemployment in Spain was normally around 20%. Young Spaniards would usually go abroad to find work and would send cash back home, giving a nice boost to the local economy.