About
Content
Store
Forum

Rebirth of Reason
War
People
Archives
Objectivism

Post to this threadMark all messages in this thread as readMark all messages in this thread as unread


Sanction: 4, No Sanction: 0
Sanction: 4, No Sanction: 0
Post 0

Thursday, August 17, 2006 - 8:23amSanction this postReply
Bookmark
Link
Edit
Bill -- Thanks for posting!

I've been writing about this issue for decades. Observe also the difference between the U.S. and E.U on the labor front.

Unemployment in the EU has averaged over 10 percent for more than a decade, compared to half that for the US. The average American who losses a job is unemployed for 4 months, the average European for a year. Private sector job creation in the EU on net is non-existent. Civilian employment in the U.S> has grown from 99.5 million in 1982 to over 143 million today.

European labor laws make it extremely difficult to fire workers during economic down-turns or just if they're bad workers. See my "Wash. Times" piece on this: http://www.washingtontimes.com/commentary/20060331-090627-2105r.htm

Vacation policy is equally stupid. See: http://www.cato.org/dailys/07-10-00.html

Thus employers usually won't hire workers even when they need them because they're so costly and the employers can never downsize.

Europe is going through a slow-motion version of the collapse that occurred in the communist bloc. The contradictions of high taxes, heavy-handed regulations and welfare-state policies are producing economic, political, social and moral problems that cannot be mitigated by the same policies that caused those problems to begin with.


Post 1

Thursday, August 17, 2006 - 9:25amSanction this postReply
Bookmark
Link
Edit
Take a look at what gets posted by left-wing bloggers on economics as an article:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/4/8/113136/2830

This article is so absurd on so many levels, commits logical fallacies all over the place, it is hard to know where to start.  Truly amazing.  I do note that they mention libertarian ideas several times (to denigrate them), but I am heartened by the fact that they do - that means that they know the ideas have some hold on people.


Post 2

Thursday, August 17, 2006 - 10:21amSanction this postReply
Bookmark
Link
Edit
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/front_page/ED08Aa01.html

Another thing happening--indirectly due to socialism--is that Europe is going through a gigantic baby bust. Even with some immigration, Europe is losing population.

This article above is somewhat interesting and deals with "Why Europe Chooses Extinction." It says that Europe will have lost "about a fifth of its population" by 2050.

(Edited by Chris Baker on 8/17, 10:22am)


Post 3

Thursday, August 17, 2006 - 11:08amSanction this postReply
Bookmark
Link
Edit
Interesting discussion...especially for me who lives in Germany.

Ever since I spent a high school year in the US in 2000 I knew that I would never ever try to settle in Germany where bureaucracy is being exercised to perfection. Government employees have life-time insure to never lose their jobs....No further comment from my P.O.V.

Thanks Bill!


Post to this thread


User ID Password or create a free account.