Which crisis? The need to understand spaces of (non)tax in the economic recovery It has become clear that the ubiquitous framings of the 'credit crunch' or 'global crisis' could be better viewed as a series of uneven and interrelated crises, rather than through a single global lens. Such analyses have the potential to provide more a fruitful insight into the spatialities of the current economic, political, and social challenges faced by nationstates (Sidaway, 2008). Subsequently, it can be argued that recent downturns in economies around the globe were triggered by three waves of crises. The fi rst, the 'US subprime crisis' (Aalbers, 2009) heralded the collapse of originate-and-distribute subprime mortgage lenders and the widespread defaults of homeowners in 2007. This was followed by a second crisis, which emerged through the series of high-profi le investment bank failures, culminating in the 'global' credit crunch. However, this phase can be more accurately viewed as a phenomenon which originated within international capital markets, which raised borrowing costs, lowering capital availability (Wainwright, 2009). This effectively helped reverse the growth trajectories of nation-states, as businesses and corporations lost access to the credit which they need to function. Consequently, a third crisis of sovereign debt ensued, which is distinct from the fi rst two in that it is not characterised by stateless fi nancial capital. Instead, states and taxation are central to the sovereign debt crises which emerged across the Eurozone (De Santis, 2012).The groundwork for the sovereign debt crisis was developed by European governments that were active in overborrowing cheap capital throughout the early 2000s, to invest in infrastructure and public services, hoping to indirectly 'buy' votes in the process. Investors seeking low-risk assets purchased government bonds with initially low interest rates, reassured by the power of states to make consistent and timely repayments with money collected as tax revenues from citizens and businesses. The economic downturn in Europe, triggered by the fi rst two crises, increased unemployment and business insolvencies, reducing tax bases which were needed to support growing numbers of unemployed citizens and public sector services, while also repaying government bonds. In some cases, this led to further borrowing, placing further strain on tax revenues, as governments struggled to manage their tax incomes and fi scal responsibilities (Blundell-Wignall and Slovik, 2011). The realisation by fund managers that government bonds are no longer as robust as once thought has driven concerns that some governments will be unable to raise enough tax revenue to meet their debt repayments-in turn, increasing bond yields. This has led to the emergence of the unfl attering if not condescending acronym of the PIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, and Spain), a term used by fi nanciers and the fi nancial press, to refer to highly indebted nation-states (Featherstone, 2011). Interestingly, the bankru...