chanel
Silver Member
This story by Steven Erlanger of the New York Times:
Must-Read Of the Day: The Times Discovers That European Socialism Sucks - Big Journalism
Well - duh.
PARIS Across Western Europe, the lifestyle superpower, the assumptions and gains of a lifetime are suddenly in doubt. The deficit crisis that threatens the euro has also undermined the sustainability of the European standard of social welfare, built by left-leaning governments since the end of World War II.
Europeans have boasted about their social model, with its generous vacations and early retirements, its national health care systems and extensive welfare benefits, contrasting it with the comparative harshness of American capitalism.
Europeans have benefited from low military spending, protected by NATO and the American nuclear umbrella. They have also translated higher taxes into a cradle-to-grave safety net. The Europe that protects is a slogan of the European Union.
But all over Europe governments with big budgets, falling tax revenues and aging populations are experiencing rising deficits, with more bad news ahead.
With low growth, low birthrates and longer life expectancies, Europe can no longer afford its comfortable lifestyle, at least not without a period of austerity and significant changes. The countries are trying to reassure investors by cutting salaries, raising legal retirement ages, increasing work hours and reducing health benefits and pensions.
According to the European Commission, by 2050 the percentage of Europeans older than 65 will nearly double. In the 1950s there were seven workers for every retiree in advanced economies. By 2050, the ratio in the European Union will drop to 1.3 to 1.
The easy days are over for countries like Greece, Portugal and Spain, but for us, too, said Laurent Cohen-Tanugi, a French lawyer who did a study of Europe in the global economy for the French government. A lot of Europeans would not like the issue cast in these terms, but that is the storm were facing. We can no longer afford the old social model, and there is a real need for structural reform.
Must-Read Of the Day: The Times Discovers That European Socialism Sucks - Big Journalism
Well - duh.