Europe Less Socalist Than Obama's America

From the New Yorker:

In American politics, “Europe” is usually a code word for “big government.” So in the midst of a global recession, with the U.S. and China shelling out trillions in fiscal stimulus, you might expect that European governments would be spending furiously, too. Far from it. While the U.S. is devoting almost six per cent of its G.D.P. to fiscal stimulus, France and Germany are spending a barely noticeable twenty-six billion euros and fifty billion euros, respectively. Whereas the U.S. hopes that the upcoming G20 summit will lead to a global stimulus package, European policymakers have been warning against the dangers of “crass Keynesianism.” The U.S. Federal Reserve has been flooding our economy with money, but the European Central Bank has cut interest rates slowly and reluctantly. Far from wild-eyed leftists, Europeans are looking downright conservative.

Wonderful.

It gets a bit worse -- even if somehow "crass Keynesianism" works, it will have been America that foot the bill, and America that lives with the debt, inflation, and diminished prosperity for decades.

And if it doesn't work? Well. A crippled economy plus massive debt and inflation, and no more bullets in the fiscal revolver left to shoot.

Thanks to MattM.

posted by Ace at 02:58 PM

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