The Franco-German Alliance Against Market Freedom
After so much fighting for so long, at last France and Germany find a common cause: resist economic reform and shore up the state apparatus as long as possible. Now we have an the unholy alliance of two political establishments bent on preserving regulations, high taxes, welfare states, and inflationary monetary policies. Their mode is defensive, reactionary, and doomed. [Full Article]
Comments (9)
What's so 'unholy' about a more human economical system rather than the 'hire and fire' way of the US. At least France and Germany try to get along in a friendly way. Being a 'World Citizen' (with a German Passport) living actually in Chile where I stayed after a 4 years technical cooperation mission a University of Concepcion. I also have studied in France and that is why I speak French and know the country from within... The french tribe has come from the center of Germany and thus we are brothers. Unfortunately, between brothers there have always been the most furious wars. But you certainly know also, that 1st World War participants have been financed by the 'Federal Reserve Bank' (Rockefeller, Rothschild, Straub) and the advent of Adolf Hitler and his NAZI party has been financed by this group, but more profoundly by Prescott Bush, the Manager of the Bank which was founded in Holland by Harriman and Thyssen. The anglo-american group has also financed A. Hitler otherwise he would have never come to power in Germany because his party was practically dead...
Well, the true stories behind the 'official history' are coming out bit by bit and be prepared to learn more about the participation of the US in all the conflicts in this world - not only now in Irak or wherever in this world. Look inside and you will learn a lot about your society which I have come to know, too, when I worked for B&L as their European Representative. In the US also have been many Jewish Pogroms during the advent of Hitler and 2nd World War, but the documents have been securely distroyed. And remember what happened after 2nd WW: McCarthy and his group managed, that many 'inadequate' Americans came to death, either by 'suicide' or direct murder. What happened to JFK and JFK jr.??? Why crashed his plane??? What happened with the votes in Florida? Where is Carlos Leder, a friend of the Bush Crime Family and the actual 'USAma' Bush??? Carlos Leder, the founder of the Colombia connection, was sentenced to prison in the US, but is not there....
Many questions - no answers...
But I know that there are decent people living in the US, too and some of them are my best friends.
Love, happiness and peace,
Siegfried Haberl
Certified Photogrammetrist and Prof. of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (retired).
P.S. Believe me that I have seen many unholy relationships between the US and many countries in this world - so far I have been to more than 90 countries in all 5 continents and especially in Africa. Now in Southamerica I can see the pressure the US is putting on the countries who want to become member of NAFTA (like Chile actually) under very unfavorable conditions for Chile - never for the US. The US dictate - that's a fact which can't be hidden anymore. But Rome and many other 'empires' have also fallen into histories trash cans... Time and God are always with the right minded - that at least is our consolation. Death is only a matter of the body, the soul can never be destroyed...
And you certainly know that Kissinger stood behind Pinochet when he came to power in Chile in 1973, because the US needed the Lithium which is so abundantly available in this country, for the construction of nuclear weapons and computers.
Shakespeare said: 'There is no darkness - but ignorance.'
Published: July 19, 2004 7:28 PM
Sir,
some of your comments pertaining to france I know are wrong. The idea for a 35 hour work week remains quite controversial for everyone, to be sure. Typecasting europeans as anti-market socialists, is profoundly misleading to your readers. Spend some time in europe talking to the people like I did. Europeans have a ton of entreprenurial hustle.
In general, I cannot support in general what I read as the prima facie argument of the von Mises Institute that whatever form of socialism is on the table for discussion is inherently bad and unproductive, and that free, unregulated markets is the answer. Often attacks against what you call socialism are tired, oversimplified, and give me nothing as a reader. Your arguments against what you call socialism, have no meat.
Pundits of Freidman and the Chicago School concept seem to disregard the problems of poverty and instability caused by imposition of the free market ideology. And there are no free and unregulated markets. They dont exist.
A blanket imposition around the world of free market policies would surely wreak havoc. This is already happening. Furthermore, problems of economic stagnation in countries you mention are world wide problems, not merely a product of protectionism as is suggested in your article.
Sometimes such economic problems have been a product of what Greenspan called the "irrational exhuberance" of the marketplace.
Protectionism, as it stands, is one of the means available to smaller governments in europe and around the world to protect their identity, language, culture, and economy from a pure ideology of profits, indifferent to the needs of all people.
Indeed, the motiviations and problems of the societies you criticise are far more complex than you describe with witty adjectives.
Published: July 19, 2004 8:00 PM
Good article! It's good to remind your readers that not only the Irak war is dividing US and (old) European governments, but also the belief in freedom vs. state intervention.
I almost consider myself an economical refugee, having left France for Taiwan, where taxes average 15% of GDP only! And considering the retirement time bomb waiting to burst in Europe, I have no desire to come back.
Published: July 20, 2004 12:58 AM
Siegfried,
Don't be upset, US economic policies are constantly under scrutiny on this website. The general consensus is that both Europe and the US are one of a kind.
Peter,
As a European myself, living in Holland, I have to disagree with you on several things.
We have to have to see what will happen with the amount of hours everyone works. In Germany, France and Holland unions have filed lawsuits against companies which have agreed with workers to work longer hours to preserve employment.
All Europeans (at least all politicians, libertarian parties don't exist or are marginal) pro-market to a certain extent (certainly not if it clashes with national interest). Why else would Schroder have so many problems in making even the smallest adjustment to the generous welfare state? The only positive exceptions are the smaller states which have to have an open economy with little intervention. Consequently, Switzerland, Luxemburg, or Monaca have the highest GDP per capita and indeed a very nice standard of living.
Furthermore, has Friedman ever provided any substantial theoretical critique on socialism, like Mises or Hayek? If you claim that there are no free markets (which there aren't) surely all problems can be traced back to governments meddling in the market?
To name the critique of some on socialism oversimplified and easy is somewhat preposterous. Maybe you are unaware of the calcalution debate which started in the '20s, but unless you have found a way to solve the difficulties you simply cannot claim that people here have an oversimplified view of socialism.
Cheers
Bas
PS Even if European people are very entrepreneurial, setting up a company in the Netherlands will cost you at least 40 days. In the US it's 4 I believe. And funny enough, in most cases the people who start companies are
(muslim)immigrants, who most large countries rather send back immediately.
Published: July 20, 2004 3:18 AM
And trying to get a working permit in Germany took more than one month, time in which you cannot work because your employer is afraid with inspectors coming and fining them.
It's sad that governments put so many obstacles to people who only want to work.
Published: July 20, 2004 3:51 AM
Good point Bas. There never have been any "free markets". As Moshe Lewine stated:
Very briefly, we may note that "free markets", as the current slogan goes, are not the only component of economic systems and are therefore never really free: economies are always mixed.
Published: July 20, 2004 10:06 AM
There might be some good news. French workers in Bosch's Vénissieux plant voted to raise their working hours to 36 hours a week and it looks like several other German companies will follow suit. Full story at Financial Times.
Published: July 20, 2004 11:02 AM
Peter: I live in Canada, which is one of the smaller countries which use protectionism to protect our culture,language and economy from the
ideology of profits.I am tired of being treated
like a retarded child,who cannot decide for himself what to read eat buy think watch on TV
etc etc ad nauseum.In a free country people are
free to spend their money as they please including
on foreign goods.To advocate protectionism is to advocate despotism.
Published: July 20, 2004 1:24 PM
Hey Ray,
"There never have been any 'free markets'."
Despite this being dubiously true, if I assume that it is: therefore what? I feel a post hoc ergo propter hoc coming on but I've heard this many times from people who invariably turn out to be anti-market and have yet to be persuaded that this point has any coherency to a debate, any debate, other than its own.
First define what a "truly free market" would be, then explain how one has never ever existed just never, and then explain, if points 1 & 2 are satisfied, why this matters.
See yas,
Published: July 20, 2004 1:40 PM