Southern Europe Did Not Have Heavy Spending on Its Welfare State

A NYT article on the uncertain politics in Spain following an election which left no obvious path to a majority government noted that the outcome was in large part a revolt against the austerity imposed on the country. There have been similar revolts in Greece and Portugal. The piece points out the popular discontent and tells readers:

"As the result in Greece showed, even anti-austerity parties have to answer to financial markets and balance national budgets, and the numbers are still deepl...