A PASSIVIDADE DA EUROPA

Paul Krugman escreveu ontem um artigo muito crítico sobre a passividade da Europa no combate à crise económica. No fundo, o que ele critica é o fundamentalismo do défice que já aqui falámos tantas vezes. Aqui vai um cheirinho de um artigo que vale a pena ler na íntegra:

"The clear and present danger to Europe right now comes from a different direction — the continent’s failure to respond effectively to the financial crisis. Europe has fallen short in terms of both fiscal and monetary policy: it’s facing at least as severe a slump as the United States, yet it’s doing far less to combat the downturn. On the fiscal side, the comparison with the United States is striking. Many economists, myself included, have argued that the Obama administration’s stimulus plan is too small, given the depth of the crisis. But America’s actions dwarf anything the Europeans are doing.

The difference in monetary policy is equally striking. The European Central Bank has been far less proactive than the Federal Reserve; it has been slow to cut interest rates (it actually raised rates last July), and it has shied away from any strong measures to unfreeze credit markets. The only thing working in Europe’s favor is the very thing for which it takes the most criticism — the size and generosity of its welfare states, which are cushioning the impact of the economic slump"