07/04/2005 2:29:09 pm
Washington Times: EU economy not all doom and gloom. Gareth Harding wrote in the Washington Times about my debate in Brussels with Mark Leonard. An interesting article:

"On Tuesday, as European Union leaders gather in Brussels to find ways of kick-starting the bloc?s sluggish economy, free-market think tank The Stockholm Network is organizing a debate entitled ?Is Europe Doomed??

There are plenty of analysts on both sides of the Atlantic who would not hesitate to answer ?yes?. ?The European social model is struggling to survive in the age of globalization,? said Johnny Munkhammar, a director at the Swedish think tank Timbro. ?Healthcare systems that siphon huge sums of money from the taxpayer are paying few dividends; pension systems that rely heavily on state subsidization cannot cope with the ageing population, and government taxation to pay for the vast array of social services is failing to deliver.?

Munkhammar?s gloomy conclusion? ?If the systems are not changed, the Western world will face a ?fiscal Armageddon.? Welfare services will become more expensive and demand a continuous increase in resources. The gap between existing and demanded welfare will grow exponentially and large-scale discontent will follow. The culmination of this is the end of the European social model and the end of big government.?

There is no shortage of statistics to back up these views."


Read the article (from Mark Leonard?s web page) - >