Much as the sinking of the Titanic came to
symbolize the scuppering of the Industrial Era’s hubris and loftiest ambitions,
so too is the sinking of the Costa Concordie an irresistible metaphor – already
seized on by cartoonists - for the demise of another grand scheme; the
Eurozone.
Brought undone by a toxic mixture of deceit,
stupidity, vanity and politicians persistently ignoring the warning signs, the
lessons of the calamitous single European currency will be taught to future
generations as one of the great follies of our own era.
Yet standing on distant shores watching the
boat go down, our Prime Minister has decided not to learn from this European
tragedy, but rather, to gloat about it.
Responding to the recent decision by Standard
and Poors to downgrade the credit rating of nine European countries, Julia
Gillard chose, somewhat brazenly, to spruik her own government’s so-called
‘economic performance.’
"The contrast with Europe
could not be more stark,” she boasted, before erroneously claiming that “our
recession beating stimulus” and our “strict fiscal rules” have saved us from
Europe’s fate.
No mention, of course, of the $45
billion Labor inherited from Howard and Costello, and then promptly frittered
away. No mention of our ever-ballooning debt, currently running at $100 million
a day. No mention of the one ace up our sleeve: China’s fondness for our
minerals.
History will show that Europe’s
current problems can be traced back to a succession of well-meaning, weak,
left-of-centre minority governments allowing their spending commitments to
spiral out of control. The philosophy of nations “living within their means”
was gradually replaced with a heady mixture of EU protectionism, EU subsidies
to unprofitable enterprises, trade unionism, excessive EU workplace regulation,
crippling taxation on small business and of course, uncontrollable welfare
spending. Unable and unwilling to balance the books, governments took to lying
both to the EU and to their own people whilst borrowing and gambling with their
futures in order to keep the funds flowing in.
The Eurozone was, and remains, a
grand folly, where the bureaucrats and boffins of Brussels mandated measures
that are impractical and anti-productive. For the next decade or so, it will be
the taxpayers and workers of numerous European countries who will pay the price
for this flamboyant and misguided project.
"The Government will keep
taking the tough decisions needed to secure a strong, productive and
sustainable Australian economy for the future," Ms Gillard bragged,
rounding out her criticism of the Europeans. Fine words, but of course the
reality is that this government, far from encouraging productivity and private
enterprise, is indulging in grandiose and cripplingly expensive schemes of its
own; reminiscent of the EU at its worst. The NBN, Fair Work Australia, the
mining tax and, of course, the carbon tax all follow the Brussels blueprint of
economic risk-taking and unnecessary regulation in order to splash excessive
and wasteful benefits upon a misinformed public.
Rather than lecturing the
Europeans, it might be smarter for our Prime Minister to start learning from
their mistakes.
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