Their Own Private Europe
By PAUL KRUGMAN
NYT
President Obama’s State of the Union address was a ho-hum affair. But the official Republican response, from Representative Paul Ryan, was really interesting. And I don’t mean that in a good way.
Mr. Ryan made highly dubious assertions about employment, health care and more. But what caught my eye, when I read the transcript, was what he said about other countries: “Just take a look at what’s happening to Greece, Ireland, the United Kingdom and other nations in Europe. They didn’t act soon enough; and now their governments have been forced to impose painful austerity measures: large benefit cuts to seniors and huge tax increases on everybody.”
It’s a good story: Europeans dithered on deficits, and that led to crisis. Unfortunately, while that’s more or less true for Greece, it isn’t at all what happened either in Ireland or in Britain, whose experience actually refutes the current Republican narrative.
But then, American conservatives have long had their own private Europe of the imagination — a place of economic stagnation and terrible health care, a collapsing society groaning under the weight of Big Government. The fact that Europe isn’t actually like that — did you know that adults in their prime working years are more likely to be employed in Europe than they are in the United States? — hasn’t deterred them. So we shouldn’t be surprised by similar tall tales about European debt problems.
(More here.)
NYT
President Obama’s State of the Union address was a ho-hum affair. But the official Republican response, from Representative Paul Ryan, was really interesting. And I don’t mean that in a good way.
Mr. Ryan made highly dubious assertions about employment, health care and more. But what caught my eye, when I read the transcript, was what he said about other countries: “Just take a look at what’s happening to Greece, Ireland, the United Kingdom and other nations in Europe. They didn’t act soon enough; and now their governments have been forced to impose painful austerity measures: large benefit cuts to seniors and huge tax increases on everybody.”
It’s a good story: Europeans dithered on deficits, and that led to crisis. Unfortunately, while that’s more or less true for Greece, it isn’t at all what happened either in Ireland or in Britain, whose experience actually refutes the current Republican narrative.
But then, American conservatives have long had their own private Europe of the imagination — a place of economic stagnation and terrible health care, a collapsing society groaning under the weight of Big Government. The fact that Europe isn’t actually like that — did you know that adults in their prime working years are more likely to be employed in Europe than they are in the United States? — hasn’t deterred them. So we shouldn’t be surprised by similar tall tales about European debt problems.
(More here.)
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1 Comments:
Ah, another piece defending the wonderment in Europe from our esteemed 'professor'.
Isn't this the same Paul Krugman who years ago talked about the family friendly policies of western Europe? Let's see if I can recall what he talked about in this regard...
i remember...he was criticizing the fact that while American conservatives drone on about family values that Eurpoeans actually live it enacting policies that were more family friendly. On the continent, claimed the professor, "government regulations actually allow people to make a desirable tradeoff-to modestly lower income in return for more time with friends and family."
Unfortunately, the professor failed to notice that for a continent of family friend policies, Europe is remarkably short of families. America's fertility rate is just above replacement level - about 2.1. But, seventeen European countries - SEVENTEEN - are at what demographers call "lowest-low" fertility: 1.3 or less. These countries have upside-down family trees: four grandparents have two children and one grandchild. How can a nobel-winning economist analyze family friendly policies yet fail to notice that the upshot of these policies is that no one has any families?
And in Europe, public pension liabilities alone are over 30% of GDP, levels at which borders on total societal collapse. And we have seen this in Greece which has been experiencing riots for nearly a year now over austerity measures. And in Spain, the unemployment rate is over 20%. Ireland needs a financial rescue, Portugal may be next, Italy is teetering on financial collapse. "So what" shrug the voters "we want our government freebies. And if we don't get them, we're going to riot in the streets". The European crisis isn't a lack of money, but a lack of citizens - in the real sense of the term. There simply aren't enough human beings in these countries to be able to work to support themselves and the mass amounts of their fellow citizens who just check out sitting on their ass their entire life collecting a government check. Europe requires massive immigration to be able to sustain the welfare system that is bankrupting these countries, nearing the brink of putting out of business some of the oldest nation-states in the world.
And based on the massive debt levels we have amassed here in the US and the overpromised benefits - according to the non-partisan CBO Social Security is officially bankrupt and will run deficits until 2037 when every last dollar will have been paid out - we will have little choice in the future but to face tough decisions and not just cut the fat from our bloated public budgets, but cut down to the bone and in to the bone. But, I fear that we Americans just aren't up to the task of doing what is necessary and the necessity is massive budget cuts at government. Trillions need to be cut. There is no other option.
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