Krugman Claims Europe is Economically Successful, Proving Socialism Works
Europe is an economic success, and that success shows that social democracy works.
Since 1980 — when our politics took a sharp turn to the right, while Europe’s didn’t — America’s real G.D.P. has grown, on average, 3 percent per year. Meanwhile, the E.U. 15 — the bloc of 15 countries that were members of the European Union before it was enlarged to include a number of former Communist nations — has grown only 2.2 percent a year. America rules!
Or maybe not. All this really says is that we’ve had faster population growth. Since 1980, per capita real G.D.P. — which is what matters for living standards — has risen about the same rate in America and in the E.U. 15: 1.95 percent a year here; 1.83 percent there.
First off, in 1981, not 1980, we stopped moving deeper into socialism, but we did almost nothing to reverse it. In 1988, we restarted our momentum down the socialist path under the first President Bush with President Clinton and then the second President Bush continuing the slide into the numbing clutches of socialism. We now have the highest corporate tax in the world, excepting Japan whose corporate tax will be lower than ours starting in 2011. Meanwhile, many of the European countries have been reducing their corporate taxes and many other business taxes. Some have adopted flat rate income taxes with growth rates increasing as a result. Many of the nations have returned state-run enterprises to the private sector. Yes, there are many legacies of socialism in Europe and yes, they are still enamored of it in many ways. At the same time, they have come to understand that there are economic penalties associated with it and they have backed off from socialism somewhat. The effects of the long term legacy of socialism are stronger in the comparison between the U.S. and Europe than have been the effects only compared in the window since 1980 as Krugman does.
is krugman an economist?