There have been many spirited letters to the editor in the
Bozeman Chronicle lately on the virtues of capitalism. As a counterpoint, some letter-writers have offered up the dangers of “European-style socialism” as the evil that could befall the United States if we deviate even slightly from our adherence to the invisible hand. From the way it sounds in the letters, the casual reader might infer that “European-style socialism” automatically results in bread lines, death panels and terrible, inevitable economic ruin. Plus we would all have to dress in black, read existentialist literature and smoke.
But you know, if the economies of Europe are in tatters, I have totally missed it. Wouldn’t there have been something about that on Twitter? Also, I have some friends in Europe, and they haven’t mentioned anything about bread lines or death panels. Are they too busy enjoying their four weeks of guaranteed paid vacation, generous maternity leave and single-payer healthcare to fill me in?
All sarcasm aside, I’m going to have to cite
Paul Krugman on this, even though I know that some people believe that Krugman, a New York Times columnist and Nobel Prize- winning economist, is just a sickle short of a commie himself.
“The real lesson from Europe is actually the opposite of what conservatives claim,” he wrote in his column recently. “Europe is an economic success, and that success shows that social democracy works.”
After going through some statistics—per capita real G.D.P. growth in both places is virtually identical, employment rates in prime working ages (25 to 54) are almost the same, productivity is similar—and giving a full caveat that Europe is no utopia, Krugman nevertheless concludes that most of us have been sold a bill of goods when it comes to the Euro-zone economies.
“Europe is often held up as a cautionary tale, a demonstration that if you try to make the economy less brutal, to take better care of your fellow citizens when they’re down on their luck, you end up killing economic progress,” he wrote. “But what European experience actually demonstrates is the opposite: social justice and progress can go hand in hand.”
No system is perfect—not theirs and not ours and not anyone else’s—but to pretend that there is only one system out there that holds a shred of promise is not just intellectually dishonest. It’s plain false.
What’s more, it seems to me that the invisible hand of capitalism has been delivering more right hooks than fond caresses for a whole lot of Americans lately. Layoffs that would have resulted in months of severance in a European country come with scant weeks—if that. Medical bills that would have been paid in full under “socialized medicine” haunt millions of Americans. Ordinary American families have to find money for the childcare, eldercare and higher education expenses that a German or Belgian or Dane would expect to be well subsidized. It’s hard to see how those things could be considered evil.
I’d tell you to do as Krugman suggests and check with your own eyes how the reality of social democracy matches up with the hysterical rhetoric, but most of us can’t swing a trip to Europe just now. Especially since every Euro is worth $1.40 and, unlike our European brethren, we’re not guaranteed any paid vacation.
