MaxedOutMama
Monday, April 11, 2005
Chrenkoff Gets Mean
Chrenkoff posts on the rising wave of Euro-horror, foreseeing "evil Anglo-Saxons and Slavs fighting for the soul of Europe with the good Gallic centralists" This must strike fear and terror into the heart of a French trade-unionist:
Towards Europe of Citizens and Entrepreneurs - Seven commandments for Europe" is the title of a position paper from the Polish Lisbon Strategy Forum that explains the polish model at a considerable detail. Firts some much needed backgroundI think Chrenkoff is dead on. The interests of the eastern bloc are to develop; the interests of the western bloc are to try to preserve what they have and add to it. So the eastern bloc will naturally favor strong pro-growth policies. Several recent posts (with lots of links to sources and people who know what they are talking about) are here, and here, and here.
"Until the mid-1970s, the European Union was catching up to the U.S. Later there came a 20-year period of more or less even development, but since the mid-1990s, the Union has been slipping further and further behind. This can be seen in slow growth of GDP and productivity, weak absorption of new technologies and declining attractiveness for the most talented and ambitious young people. Meanwhile Asia (especially China and India) is experiencing a great development boom.
The Union`s prospects aren`t bright either: it is threatened with stagnation. If nothing changes, by 2050 the EU`s share in the world economy will fall to 10 percent, from 18 percent today; in the mid-1970s it was 25 percent. And the consequences of Europe`s loss of dynamism and competitiveness will not only be economic: we can assume that sooner or later it will give birth to a new kind of populism and radicalism, which will threaten the European Project and the stability of the continent."
a diagnosis of the ailment and a prescription for a cure
"Today we know better. The European social and economic model is incapable of meeting the demands of globalisation, technological progress and the ageing of society. Europe needs to be rebuilt - from the foundation of shared values to the roof of current policy. We need a Europe of citizens, a Europe of entrepreneurs."
The seven commandments:
1. First, deregulate and simplify the law
2. Realise the ideal of the single market
3. Limit the Welfare State
4. Maintaining of internal systemic competitiveness
5. Use the potential of all regions
6. Increase the role of small and peripheral states
7. A return to values
