want to make your blood boil?

read it and weep.

I'm currently reading a history of Spain, covering the period about 1450-1750. Right now, I am in the 1560's, a time of political and financial unrest, as Philip II dealt with the absurd Empire he inherited from his papa, the remarkable Charles V.

It's a story of an economy ruined, banks failing, shifting political alliances, finger-pointing, and public frustration, totally different from our time.

Yeah.