Chippla's blog cites an economic report by former Dutch leader Wim Kok on Europe's flagging economies. Chippla's conclusion: European countries may finally be realizing that the social-welfare system on which a number of their economies are based is in need of radical reform.
The presence of Mr. Kok is interesting. During his tenure as Labor (center-left) prime minister, the Netherlands had one of the strongest economies in Europe. This isn't supposed to happen because Kok was not only center-left but a former trade union leader. They are supposed to run economies into the ground, according to conventional wisdom.
Or perhaps Kok knows that if done properly, social democracy and economic growth are not mutually exclusive.
1 comment:
Absolutely right - during Kok's tenure, Holland did have one of the strongest economies in Europe. One sector that contributed greatly to this was IT. Unfortunately a great number of IT companies in Holland had to be closed down after the bubble went bust in 2000. Kok's government can be described as an embodiment of the Dutch socialist ideal with its generous welfare and unemployment benefits. Declining birth rates and an increase in the elderly population weren't issues the Socialists really bothered to look into (more like putting off the bad news for another day). But these issues have become central to economic policies of the present center-right government of Mr. Balkenende. This government also seems to have realized that generous welfare and unemployment benefits hinder economic growth. It is currently undertaking reform programs, which don’t seem to find favor with a significant portion of the Dutch public.
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