Europe

An old adage says that if you want to dance you have to pay the fiddler. The day of payment is fast approaching in Europe. Most EU countries have prided themselves on their vast social programs. National healthcare, generous retirement plans, weeks of vacations and up to a year of full pay for having a baby in addition to time off for fathers. For years these programs have been paid for by exports and low expenditures for national defense. In recent years exports have declined as the US demands equivalent tariffs and that the EU countries begin to pay for their own defense instead of relying on the US. These countries have also allowed millions of refugees to enter the country which is placing stress on public assistance plans. Politicians in Brussels are trying to instigate austerity programs to cover the new cost but the people are objecting to any reductions in their government benefits and this is leading to rioting. One suggested solution is to institute a wealth tax. This has been tried in the past but failed in more countries like France, Italy, Belgian and Netherlands but remains in Norway, Spain and Switzerland. In Norway the tax is one percent for all net income over $3 million for married couples. Even if a workable system could be developed where the money would be taken from the rich and given to those who are not rich it would be only a temporary solution because in time the rich would run out of money. It is like Margaret Thatcher said, socialism is a great idea until you run out of the other guy’s money. The best solution is to have an economy that is growing and creating new jobs. The per capita income in Europe is $34,800 and in the US $86,000 or more than double. One of the main differences in these numbers is the fact that Americans work 1,811 hours per year while the Europeans work 1,511 and in Germany and France the number is 1,341.