A declining Europe must focus on the nitty-gritty

FT ^ | 08/14/08 | Leif Pagrotsky

[TigerLikesRooster]

A declining Europe must focus on the nitty-gritty

By Leif Pagrotsky

Published: August 14 2008 19:20 | Last updated: August 14 2008 19:20

At this time of failures in Iraq and on Wall Street, when the US has lost its role as model and inspiration for policymakers and others around the world, a golden opportunity has arisen for Europe to offer an alternative to look up to and find inspiration from. But Europe is not in good shape.

It is not just about the Irish vote. The Irish referendum on the Lisbon treaty in June is merely a scapegoat for our long-term failure to build a strong Europe that is influential in the world.

It is time for European Union member states to reappraise their unwillingness to compromise. France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, should refrain from blaming the Irish until they are prepared to reform the common agricultural policy and other obsolete regulatory regimes that prevent growth. There is nothing in the proposed treaty that would produce one European voice over Kosovo, in the United Nations, or one voice per currency in the Inter­national Monetary Fund.

[TigerLikesRooster]

EU's momentum is always fickle. It lurches forward a bit from time to time, only to fall back down.

What Europs should do is to get rid of overeducated bureaucrats and intellectuals. They are the parasites holding Europe back. For starters, ban them from writing books and showing up on news media.

Downsize humanity and social sciences program drastically, too. 50% reduction for starters.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Ping!

[coalman]

well the dems plan was to drag us through the mud with the elections and it has hurt us some,,but the good ole USA is still the best place going and most people around the world know that,but Iraq is not a failure and wallstreet bounces back,dollar gets stronger,,the biggest thing for us to do to help ourselves is drill our oil and develope a sane energy policy,,then we would rock and roll!

[denydenydeny]

At this time of failures in Iraq and on Wall Street, when the US has lost its role as model and inspiration for policymakers and others around the world,

I think this was a new record. I didn't make it halfway through the first sentence.

[bruinbirdman]

"data yesterday confirming that the eurozone is in fact contracting. Despite the Lisbon agenda, despite European enlargement and despite the establishment of the eurozone, overall economic performance remains disappointing."

Obviously, EUrotopia needs to reduce the work week from 35 hrs. to 30 hrs. Presto, a 1/7 increase in production.

And if you say 5 is 1/6 of 30, the productivity is even greater.

yitbos

[driftless2]

"didn't make it halfway"

Ditto. If deposing a murderous, terror-supporting tyrant like Saddam Hussein and replacing it with a faltering but growing democracy, then logic is stood on its head. The author is an idiot.

[Caipirabob]

At this time of failures in Iraq and on Wall Street, when the US has lost its role as model and inspiration for policymakers and others around the world, a golden opportunity has arisen for Europe to offer an alternative to look up to and find inspiration from.

Wha?!? In what version of reality does the author reside? Certainly not this one...

Iraq is a major success by any criteria. Compared with the occupation and taming of Germany it's tremendous.

[Bushwacker777]

The “nitty-gritty the Eurpeans need to focus on is getting pregnant a heck of a lot more often and curbing the flow of immigration.

[johnny7]

What ails Europe is what has ailed it since the start of WWII... the debilitating complacency of socialism.

[FreedomPoster]

>>Downsize humanity and social sciences program drastically, too. 50% reduction for starters.

We could use that program, too.

[Rockingham]

Well put.

[sergeantdave]

The Europeans should read the grievances in our Declaration of Independence, because that’s what is going on in Europe, and take the same action we did.

Tories don’t just fade away and die. You gotta make a determined effort to rid yourself of them.

[Rockingham]

The British Tories are the party of Churchill, Thatcher, and modern British conservatism. There is no effective national political force to the right of them. “Getting rid of” the British Tories and other parties on the Right in Europe would not be an improvement.

[sergeantdave]

Philosophically, the Tories of today would sit beside our lunatic left wing democrats. Even our RINOs would be to the right of the Tories.

Besides, what about England’s Countryside Alliance? Is it a viable political force?

[Rockingham]

The Tories of today are a mixed bag who have known far too much of defeat, but, like the Republican Party of forty years ago, the logic of their circumstances and their constituency incline them to the Right even as many of their leaders might prefer otrherwise.

Crime, Muslim encroachments, excess immigration, high taxes, the decline of the NIH, and other urban quality of life issues are paramount concerns for most Britons today. These lend themselves to a Nixon/Giuliani style approach that eschews some cultural and values issues but builds a new governing majority based on those issues that have the widest appeal to the public.

Once Tory political strength is renewed through success, a more conservative PM and government are likely to emerge. For a conservative political party long in the wilderness, the historical pattern seems to be first a Nixon, then a Reagan, and first a Heath, then a Thatcher.

By definition, the Countryside Alliance is not a national political force but is devoted to the interests of the countryside. I do not see them as having the potential to become a new political party. In sum, British conservatives must make do with the Tories. Since they are almost certain to win the next election, that is not such a bad thing.