NPR Gets It Wrong, Overspending Did Not Get Spain Into Its Crisis

Morning Edition gave a Spanish economist, Pedro Videla, an opportunity to mislead listeners when he dismissed the idea of more public spending as a way out of the crisis by saying "overspending is what got Spaniards into this mess in the first place."

This is wrong. Spain's public sector was not overspending. In fact, Spain's government was running large budget surpluses. NPR should try to find Spanish eocnomists who are more familiar with Spain's economy.