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by DoDo
Europeans on this date in history: 2002 - death of Astrid Lindgren, children's book author (b. 1907) More here
Read more... (36 comments, 567 words in story) by afew
"Rackert so wie wir - Work hard like us" is, according to Ernst Elitz in Bild Zeitung, Angela Merkel's advice to the indebted of Europe (h/t Eurointelligence). In France, it's a deeply-held article of faith that Germans are hard-working, while the insecure French are not so sure that they themselves are. The right plays on the theme incessantly, to provide cover for the usual "necessary structural reforms", but also, at the moment, for electoral reasons. It's not Sarko's fault if the French economy is on the blink: on the international front, there's a crisis, and, on the home front, everything that has gone wrong is the fault of the Socialists.
Yes, a whole decade of the right holding the presidency and both chambers, with Sarkozy as N° 2 of the government for five years and president for five more, has been crippled by the legacy of that Jospin government that had neither the presidency nor the Senate on its side. And particularly, the evil 35-hour working week has destroyed the French economy - this has been the retrograde French employers' union warhorse for years. An employers/conservative think tank called Coe-Rexecode, close to the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry, came out recently with a killer report that showed that the French didn't work as long hours as the Germans (or, indeed, most others in Europe), that working hours had diminished in France faster than in Germany since 1999, and that Germany had succeeded in creating jobs while raising GDP and purchasing power per capita. German success (inspired by economic-liberal "reforms"), French failure (caused by ruinous leftwing policies). Rackert so wie wir!
Read more... (34 comments, 1416 words in story) by In Wales
Read more... (94 comments, 548 words in story) by dvx Read more... (79 comments, 35 words in story) by Colman
It looks as if, in Ireland at least, the debt reduction rules in the proposed fiscal treaty are likely to be set in legislation rather than in the constitution. The "Fiscal Advisory Council", set-up to bolt the door once the horse has bolted, is advising that the rules aren't flexible enough so putting them in the constitution would be unwise.
I can't see the government enduring a referendum they're going to lose in the face of this, and the treaty has been written to accommodate them. This is good news, since it means that a later parliament can easily amend or delete the rules - overnight if necessary. Putting them in the constitution would require a referendum to amend them when it becomes clear even to the EPP that they're destroying the economy. How's this going to play out elsewhere? Comments >> (6 comments) by afew
Read more... (96 comments, 483 words in story) by Colman
On a grey, grey Wednesday. (In Dublin at least)
Comments >> (29 comments) by ceebs
Read more... (80 comments, 541 words in story) by ceebs
brought to you with bonus electrons
Comments >> (87 comments) by Nomad
Europe on this date in history: 1862 - Bucharest is proclaimed capital of Romania
Read more... (94 comments, 445 words in story) by afew
ET was contacted a week ago by Stronger Europe for feedback on their upcoming campaign for the direct election of the president of the European Commission. There was discussion of this here.
Their main page now shows a video ad for this campaign, followed by this text:
Well, yeah... There's no doubt there's a huge democracy gap in the EU, and electing the EC president would be one move towards filling it. But I can't help feeling there are a couple of misconceptions here.
Read more... (52 comments, 924 words in story) by dvx
Read more... (88 comments, 534 words in story) by afew
Read more... (46 comments, 487 words in story) by DoDo
Europeans on this date in history: 1941 - birth of Plácido Domingo, Spanish tenor, one of The Three Tenors More here
Read more... (59 comments, 569 words in story) by Jerome a Paris
Someone sent me this web page about the French 1% and this generated the following comment:
If you work for 40 years with an income putting you in the top 1% of earners, and save half of it, you still won't be in the top 1% by wealth at the end. But if you are in the top 1% by wealth and earn 5% on that wealth, you are in the top 1% of income without any work.The conclusion is that wealth taxes, and inheritance taxes in particular, are especially important. High marginal income taxes are necessary to avoid having people betting (someone else's) house to make it big quickly, but wealth taxes are actually more relevant to fight inequality.
Comments >> (55 comments)
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