Where are the “markets” that administrations have looked after so many times? Where are those who criticise state intervention in the economy? It has been surprising how many liberals in the economy have been silent or have called for measures to facilitate the recovery of companies. Of course, doctrinal ideologists, who live in their parallel mental world, are not among them. In this critical situation, it is becoming clear that a liberalised economy, based on free trade, and with limited public spending, has no great potential to fight the pandemic. Also, a drastic reduction in administrative intervention in the economy would create more difficulties. They shut up. Germany is also about to break the austerity rule of EU public budgets. It is clear that, in order to get out of this situation, the Liberals are not relying on the market either.

The 2008 crisis highlighted the failure of neoliberal recipes, which were vigorously applied in our territory during the Great Recession. A new problem has been created and, again, the way to overcome the situation is not austerity; the market will not solve the problem. If we wait for the markets to get out of this situation, 99% of the population is free. In the twenty-first century, the orthodox economic theories that have written the main guidelines of economic policies have clashed for the second time with reality; austerity has been the political decision used against certain social classes, another attack on class struggle.

An example of this has been the public health system. In the name of economic efficiency, the functioning of the private company of our health system has been internalized in search of economic profitability because it is “expensive”. As a consequence of the neoliberal approaches behind this, it was saved in basic elements. Should the cost-benefit equation guide a basic social service? It is clear that no, seeing the situation we are suffering these days.

It is worth noting the “strong economic growth” that is going to ruin, as a virus can face the economic system against the strings. But the virus has not been the cause of the crisis; if so, it will be explosive. The limitations of the prevailing economic system are becoming evident. The king goes naked, the economic growth of the last two or three years has dazzled the authorities. But as the color of companies' accounts shifted from red to black, the workers' situation did not go in the same direction. It was said that the crisis had already been overcome, because macroeconomic data indicated this. It is about to see what the macroeconomic data for this year say, but it is not going to be anything good. We have a golden opportunity to put economic ideologies against people behind us; to compare the economic policies that are based on those pseudosciences; to put people at the heart of the economy.