Merkinball
Deity
Merk, could you make up your mind whether you are talking about Europe or France? - Ziggy
I was talking about France that post primarily because of Steph. I'm generalizing about Europe, and I believe that France is a pretty good barometer for Europe as a whole.
unemployment in countries Europe ranges from 3 to 14,5%. So, if you are talking about Europe I am wondering how you manage to make sweeping statements like: "But isn't that the entire point of the European welfare state? You tolerate higher unemployment and lower economic growth for more equality." - Ziggy
Again, generalizing. However, I think it is worth noting that a lot of European countries under-evaluate their unemployment numbers by not encompassing people in educational classes. Sweden, for instance, would have significantly higher unemployment, but they pay people to take classes who are unemployed, and those people are not tallied in their unemployment numbers.
Anyhow, they are just generalizations. Europe has how many countries in it? I'm not going to go nation by nation talking about each and every country, its benefits, its good attributes, and its negative attributes. I'm sure you'll understand this.
And whether the Dutch have a superiour political and economic understanding since our unemployment rate has been significantly lower than the US' for quite some time? - Ziggy
The Netherlands underwent pretty drastic economic liberalization a few decades ago. Your policies on part-time work, unemployment benefits, wage moderation, and taxation are not like France or Germany. In some respects the Netherlands is probably more economically free than America.
You're so misinformed it's not even funny anymore. To start with, we have a different kind of industry (it's all export here) and our situation is just different. Especially your part about universal health care completely misses the mark. (you have probably more choice between health care companies here that in the US) - suiraclaw
Where is here? Again, I'm generalizing because I'm not going to talk about thirty freakin' countries. We're talking about "European Socialism." But since that doesn't fit the self-appointed luminaries definition of "socialism," let's call it the stereotypical European welfare state. In most of those countries with universal healthcare systems, the vast majority of the population has no choice in regards to healthcare providers. You may, most do not. And don't even pretend that those systems are anything like the one here in America where there are dozens, if not hundreds of health insurance and HMO providers.