24/03/2005 3:05:57 pm
People and Big Government - Like the Stockholm Syndrome. Last time I was in Prague during spring was in 1999. Before that, in 1993. But it is as sunny and beautiful as ever. And now it is the capitol of an EU-country in the successful New Europe. I focused my speech yesterday in Paris on the ideological and economic reasons why the European Social Model is worng, harmful and has to change.

"Western Europe today, where France of course is a central and important part, is to a large extent a pessimistic part of the world. There is a feeling that much is going in the wrong direction, we are losing that which we like and look back at the good old days.

Especially, in my country and here as well, people desperately want to hold on to the European Social Model. I think that is a bit like the so-called Stockholm syndrome, where the hostage falls in love with the bank robber. ...

Government grew, but it had little to do with the welfare of the citizens. The core principle of the model was that there should be only one that provided welfare services and social security: the state. The state has many names, and these things can be provided at national or local lever. But the public sphere is the public sphere.

It is fundamentally different from the private society. Private companies, private property, free competition, free financing, interest in profit ? all these are prohibited in the public sphere. And I believe that is why it goes wrong. These are the forces of development, and if you prohibit them, you don?t get much development.

Let?s imagine prohibiting these forces in other fields. Does anyone think that we would have all these kinds of mobile phones with only one state telephone monopoly? Or take a more fundamental need: food. What kinds of food and drink would we have if it weren?t produced and delivered by private companies? Lines of people waiting for bread, most likely, as we do have now in health care."

Read the entire speech here - >