Both the United States and Western Europe have entered a period of austerity that looks to be quite protracted. The two economic powers are approaching this reality in very different ways, however.
One of the most obvious differences involves language. Official pronouncements and media in Europe are full of comments about “austerity budgets” and “austerity angst.” In this country we seem to be in verbal denial when it comes to austerity, focusing instead on that strange economist construct, “recovery.” Labeling austerity as “the new normal” is another way in which a growing nastiness is meant to lose some of its real world sting. How bad can it be if it’s just normal?
Protests in Europe these days often focus on the plight of the poor. It’s a big part of the debate. Here, protecting the middle class is the major focus while a spreading poverty is rarely mentioned. It’s as if being poor were a social disease not discussed in polite company. Those who insist on bringing up the matter generally get pegged liberals, or bleeding hearts, as if traditional conservatism didn’t also focus on the evils of spreading poverty and its inevitable social and political consequences
In Western Europe they are aggressively seeking to protect the long term value of their euro currency by cutting excessive government borrowing. Here, long-term threats to the value of the dollar are shrugged off, and even more borrowing and larger deficits are likely because of more tax breaks.
The policies of a conservative-liberal governing coalition in the U.K. is a striking example of Western European countries’ general political consensus about the need to share the pain of national austerity. Here, in spite of just released figures which show that even during the economic down years the incomes of the rich have soared while those of the middle class and poor has remained stagnant or actually declined, we’re still arguing over whether to extend tax breaks for the rich. Such an argument would be virtually impossible in most countries of Europe today.
Labor unions that are powerful enough to call general strikes like the one now going on in Spain have lost most of their political clout in this country. In Europe unions are big participants in the austerity debate. Here, they are bit players — with a few notable exceptions such as public service unions in California.
Austerity has fueled the rise of extremist parties of right and left in Europe. Here, the extremists are still largely confined within a two-party political structure — though that could change very soon if dissatisfaction with both Democrats and Republicans continues to grow.
in Europe, long and painful austerity is recognized as a threat to the social order. Here, it’s still largely treated as a threat to the party in power and an opportunity for the party currently out of power.
In Europe they are enacting policies that have at least a theoretical chance to end the recession and restore national and E.U.-wide economic health. Our own approach to achieving this end appears to be largely faith-based.
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