While Barack Obama was making his latest pitch for a brand-new, even-more-unsustainable entitlement at the health-care “summit,” thousands of Greeks took to the streets to riot. An enterprising cable network might have shown the two scenes on a continuous split-screen — because they’re part of the same story. It’s just that Greece is a little further along in the plot: They’re at the point where the canoe is about to plunge over the falls. America is farther upstream and can still pull for shore, but has decided instead that what it needs to do is catch up with the Greek canoe. Chapter One (the introduction of unsustainable entitlements) leads eventually to Chapter Twenty (total societal collapse): The Greeks are at Chapter Seventeen or Eighteen.
What’s happening in the developed world today isn’t so very hard to understand: The 20th-century Bismarckian welfare state has run out of people to stick it to. In America, the feckless, insatiable boobs in Washington, Sacramento, Albany, and elsewhere are screwing over our kids and grandkids. In Europe, they’ve reached the next stage in social-democratic evolution: There are no kids or grandkids to screw over. The United States has a fertility rate of around 2.1 — or just over two kids per couple. Greece has a fertility rate of about 1.3: Ten grandparents have six kids have four grandkids — ie, the family tree is upside down. Demographers call 1.3 “lowest-low” fertility — the point from which no society has ever recovered. And, compared to Spain and Italy, Greece has the least worst fertility rate in Mediterranean Europe.
So you can’t borrow against the future because, in the most basic sense, you don’t have one. Greeks in the public sector retire at 58, which sounds great. But, when ten grandparents have four grandchildren, who pays for you to spend the last third of your adult life loafing around?
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If Obama had a fraction of the wisdom that Steyn does, America would be in far better shape to weather the financial storm. Alas, like the captain of the Titanic, Obama would rather go down with ‘his’ ship.
America’s financial problems started long before the big O took office and I doubt whether the Republicans & Democrats have the will to make the necessary cuts and/or raise taxes to put the country back on its (financial) feet.
I can see the cries going out from many Governors ‘Hey, no cuts in my state.’ oink, oink, oink.
oddly enough the solution will work out to a typical ass backwards routine.
amputate the program first as opposed to the surgery of removing the pork and corruption.
I have two Canadian, ie Quebec programs in mind as examples, first is $7/day daycare which actually costs $47/day but is available to everyone – stay at home moms and stay at home welfare moms should not get this because the break they need today should not come out of the taxpayers pockets
and
this business of a cool 30% skimmed of the top of government construction contracts for either organized crime or corruption in general
but hey, a reality is looking me in the eye
1. in relation to the powers that are, an image of a lapel button comes to mind; “Rest Assured, no one gives a shit what you think”
That’s right Paul, we should not be pointing fingers at Americans, we have the problem right under our noses and this could eventually put our Looney at risk. From Saturday’s Globe and Mail:
“An analysis by the Quebec Ministry of Finance suggests the province has one of the most heavily indebted economies in the industrialized world.
The 44-page document calculates the province’s total debt as 94 per cent of GDP, employing methods used by the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development.
The government report, available on the ministry’s website, compares the total provincial public debt to that of other Canadian provinces and to major industrialized nations.
Quebec ranks only below Japan, Italy, Greece and Iceland in terms of public debt as a percentage of GDP.
The report calculates public debt across Canada as 69.7 per cent of the country’s GDP.
The report puts Quebec’s total public debt at $285.6-billion.”
The most destructive force for savers and other responsible types is the Bank of Canada. They keep devaluing the currency to keep our dollar in line the US’s failing currency. Exporters remain competitive but that $300k you have saved up means less and less by the day. Devaluation is worse than taxes because it works retroactively.
I wish more Obama-haters understood currency devaluation – they probably wouldn’t obsess over him so much (if in fact it is really is finances they’re worried about)
What are you muttering about Cynapse the biggest drawback to Oblamebush is his monetizing debt. Trillions of dollars of debt are being disguised by the printing of phony dollars. Then to top it off the idiot wants to spend more (read further devalue the dollar) on a social program with limited benefits but with real costs that won’t be fully felt for decades. Before you join Oblamebush; I didn’t agree with Bush’s running wars and doing ‘nation building’ on the national credit card.
You and a lot of people better figure out what I’m “muttering” about because it didn’t start with Obama and it won’t end with your mascot candidate.
Currency is only devalued by changing the interest rate, not spending more of it.
Those health care benefits mean a lot outside the well moneyed, aging tea party circles.
“the US’s failing currency” compared to what? The Euro is 135, it was over 150 a few months ago.
Also how is the Canadian currency being devalued? It used to be 65 cents as Paul Martin dropped interest rates much lower than they had been historically in ralation to the US, in order to create the illusion that he was balancing the budget. But what he was really doing was cutting the carrying cost of the massive Trudeau debt and he drove our currency down in the process.
Cy you know better than that. Devaluation of currency occurs when more money is printed than real wealth created. Right now Oblamebush and the Fed are printing money like there is no tomorrow so Oblamebush can blow it on his pet projects. However before you get your knickers knotted realize Oblamebush is much more a symptom than the problem. Whole generations of Americans have grown to expect something for nothing. Some would go back as far as LBJ others back to FDR. I’m not going to go there because it is pointless. The fact is that the US is borrowing from its children and grandchildren to pay for something they have not earned. However they are not getting off scot free because they are about to reap the whirlwind of hyperinflation. Stop gaps like Regan are not the answer. There has to be a philosophical shift take place in the American populace and I don’t see that happening anytime soon. They have learned how to rob the public treasury with impunity. Maybe they will come to their senses before they reach Zimbabwe status but I won’t hold my breath.
Its either raising taxes or cuts or both for the U.S. & Canada.
We have our very own Greece ………………….
An analysis by the Quebec Ministry of Finance suggests the province has one of the most heavily indebted economies in the industrialized world.
The 44-page document calculates the province’s total debt as 94 per cent of GDP, employing methods used by the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development.
The government report, available on the ministry’s website, compares the total provincial public debt to that of other Canadian provinces and to major industrialized nations.
Quebec ranks only below Japan, Italy, Greece and Iceland in terms of public debt as a percentage of GDP.
The report calculates public debt across Canada as 69.7 per cent of the country’s GDP.
The report puts Quebec’s total public debt at $285.6 billion.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20100227/quebec_debt_100227/20100227?hub=TopStoriesV2
Its time to cut the Quebec nation loose before it drags the rest of us down with them.
Can you imagine what their currency would be worth if they were a real country?
Well UV if we cut Quebec loose we would have to cut Ontario loose as well and for exactly the same reason. Both are focused on wealth spending not wealth creation.
If you cut the two manufacturing hubs of Canada loose then what you’re left with is a sparse Dutch Disease nation with no military – aka future Chinese territory.
Actually Joe, Ontario has always paid its way and carried many others for a long, long time.. And even though we’re getting a little bit back now, are still paying more than we receive and that is creating wealth for Canada. Plus Alberta and BC are also now joining Ontario in creating wealth for Canada. Has Quebec ever created any wealth for Canada? http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2008/04/30/transfer-payments.html