Walter Williams had an excellent column a couple of days ago on all of the economic reasons we shouldn’t copy Europe. Here’s an excerpt:
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,.
South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun (R) shakes hands with Angel Gurria (L), secretary general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), during their meeting at the presidential Blue House in Seoul September 21, 2006. Gurria is in South Korea on a four-day visit to attend a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of South Korea’s entry into OECD. REUTERS/Jung Yeon-je/Pool (SOUTH KOREA) Over the last decade, the U.S. economy has grown twice as fast as European economies. In 2006, European unemployment averaged 8 percent while the U.S. average was 4.7 percent. What’s more, the percentage of Americans without a job for more than 12 months was 12.7 percent while in Europe it was 42.6 percent. Since 1970, 57 million new jobs were created in the U.S., and just 4 million were created in Europe.