Rather than reduce spending or institute temporary borrowing to cover the shortfall, the government resorted to printing money.
Interviewed on the Today programme, Labour's deputy leader Harriet Harman confirmed that under the party's economic plans there would have to be a temporary rise in borrowing to fund a cut in VAT.
Short-term, most of its borrowing is temporary and is coming down.
In other words, there is no temporary refuge for Spain in borrowing for shorter periods.
When borrowing is already rising to dangerous and unsustainable levels, temporary short-term giveaways now, paid for by permanent tax rises and even higher borrowing later is a big economic mistake, because it misunderstands how people actually behave.
This time around fearful consumers are already head over heels in debt, wiser regarding the temporary illusion of good times financed by borrowing, and determined to pay down debt and save rather than spend.
Worst of all, it sets up yet another fiscal crisis in just a few months when, in short order, the federal government reaches its legal borrowing limit and yet another temporary measure keeping government agencies operating expires.
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It may be that other, temporary forces, such as the lack of private borrowing or the Fed's easy monetary policy, are offsetting any worries about deficits.
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But since September 2008 there have been two definitions of public sector net borrowing and public sector net debt, depending on whether the "temporary effects of financial sector interventions" are included.
Those temporary budget savings thus cannot be used to offset spending in other programs (unless hitting the borrowing limit is pushed beyond the budget window).
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