Why Should We Look to Europe As an Example?
Deseret News (Salt Lake City) › November 22, 2006
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Summary
Some Americans look to European countries such as France, Germany and its Scandinavian neighbors and suggest that we adopt some of their economic policies. I agree we should look at Europe for the lessons they can teach us. Daniel Mitchell, Ph.D., research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, does just that in his paper titled "Fiscal Policy Lessons from Europe."
Government spending exceeds 50 percent of the GDP in France and Sweden and more than 45 percent in Germany and Italy, compared to U.S. federal, state and local spending of just under 36 percent. Government spending encourages people to rely on handouts rather than individual initiative, and the higher taxes to finance the handouts reduce incentives to work, save and invest. The European results shouldn't surprise anyone. U.S. per capita output in 2003 was $39,700, almost 40 percent higher than the average of $28,700 for European nations.See the full content of this document
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Why Should We Look to Europe As an Example?
Over the past decade, the U.S. economy has grown twice as fast as European economies. In 2006, European unemployment averaged 8 percent, while the U.S. ave...
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