Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Why Europe is a mess

We've all watched as the Greek debt crisis threatened to sink much of Europe's economy, and it's still not clear that the arranged bailout will calm the rough economic waters. But I have an idea of how they found themselves in this mess.

This quote comes from a French economist, who was recently part of a panel discussion about windmills that are being built and installed around France. Like all wind power schemes, these windmills - known as Eolienne windmills - are expensive, ugly and produce very little power. The economist was asked "Why would we keep using these Eolienne when they cost a fortune and are not profitable and can't produce much energy?"

His answer: "First, I would like to dispute the idea that Eolienne windmills aren't profitable. Once one adds all the subsidies and financial support the industry receives from the French government and the European Community, it is losing very little money."

Yes, that's how to build an economy: Have the government subsidize a bad idea so that instead of losing a lot of money, it only loses a little money. I'm sure that will help turn things around.

2 comments:

  1. oh riiiiiiight. Greece is in financial trouble becuase an un-named French economist says something like that. Very smart post.

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  2. Obviously Anonymous missed the point entirely. The point being---more government control and spending leads to a failed economy.

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