Don't forget, Melenchon isn't asking a lot here. The structurally married bond and FX markets capable of coercively enforcing fiscal discipline on sovereign nations have been a global operation only since the 1970s. Before then, governments had a high degree of economic autonomy. But fixed exchange rates were abandoned, capital controls were dismantled and the bond and FX markets became globally synced in electronic trading systems. In the event of a government threatening nationalisation and public investment, international investors - big capital funds demanding privatisation - were able to short the nation's currency and simultaneously dump its bonds. The newly empowered global 'creditor class' began to act as an international regulatory body with the ability to punish offenders with higher interest rates and austerity demands. For half a century it's been a bit like floundering and begging for mercy under the cosh of Wonga International teamed up with the Rialto coin traders serviced by the Inquisition and the local baillif. This global disciplinary system is a very recent innovation - with some political and central bank coordination it could be crushed as quickly as it was constructed.