Europe's economic goals fail

[leftyandproud]

Europe's economic goals fail

By Graham Bowley International Herald Tribune

Thursday, November 4, 2004
BRUSSELS Europe's efforts to become the world's most competitive economy have failed, and the European social model faces collapse unless the Continent's governments stimulate growth and create more jobs, according to a report published Wednesday.
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The initiative, drawn up by Wim Kok, former Dutch prime minister, measures progress on the so-called Lisbon Agenda, which European Union countries introduced in 2000 with a goal of making Europe the world's most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy by 2010.
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But since then "the growth gap with North America and Asia has widened," the report says. The gloomy assessment blames national governments for the failure, and it calls on each of the 25 EU countries to publish new national targets for reform, and a timetable for meeting them.
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The European Commission would be given the role of naming and shaming countries that failed to meet the targets.
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"If we don't focus strongly on growth, productivity and employment, we will not provide the means to keep the social model," Kok said in an interview following the publication of the report.
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Amid moribund growth in the EU - especially in Germany, the Union's biggest economy - José Manuel Barroso, who will take over as European Commission president, has put the Lisbon strategy at the center of his term of office. Analysts say Barroso hopes that the goal of improving competitiveness could be the project that galvanizes the EU during his five-year term.
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The Lisbon Agenda was begun in 2000, in a bid to emulate the American economy as it grew rapidly amid a high-technology boom. But the initiative soon foundered. Countries have failed to meet the targets it set, like greater research and development investment and higher employment rates.
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the bad news continues...
http://www.iht.com/articles/2004/11/03/business/euecon.html

[orwell]

1. The Race

And so the race to the bottom for worldwide labor continues.

Productivity is a euphenism for laying off workers, or at the very least cutting the wage and benefit packages.

Funny how "productivity" never shows up in the corporate boardroom.

[leftyandproud]

2. too bad they are trying to compare to us

europe will never be able to compete with the greed and cutthrough competition in america. They are supposed to be a more compassionate society...They need to stop trying to compete and take care of their people. Set an example for us.

[aneerkoinos]

3. Bullshit

Lisbon Agenda was allways nothing but neoliberal bullshit, and so is this article, IHT, Wim Kook and Barroso. I fart in their general direction.

"Social model" which is ugly distortion of the idea of humane society which serves the meaningfull well-being of humans, not abstact capital and, does not need eternal growth. Capitalism needs growth or it crumbles and dies.

A thinking person understands that this planet sets limits to growth. A well informed person knows that humanity has allready overshoot the sustainable Earth's carrying capacity by 20%.

A responsible person votes Greens, the only party (at least in my country) that is not committed to the idea of growth, but sustainability.


Edit to add: btw the European socialist parties are only marginally better than the "conservative" parties. They are committed to material growth, which is impossibility, and they are not even socialist parties but "capitalism with human face" parties, which is impossibility, because - you guessed it right, natural limits of material growth.

[leftyandproud]

4. if the european socialist parties aren't really socialist..

What hope does the world have?

[aneerkoinos]

6. We the people!

Who did you think? ;)

Political parties are born from grass roots movements and end up dying hollow. We are still here and will start from the scratch, as we allways do.

Where is the hope? Look south, there's country called América, there are Zapatistas, Bolivarian movement, left wing winning elections in every Mercosur country and elsewhere, creating new participatory forms of democracy and media. They have been fucked by IMF, US, war on drugs and what not and they learned from the experience and chosen democracy and humanism.

Remember what happened 1989, when the Stalinist block just collapsed by it's own hollowness, the emperor had no clothes. You can trust Bush to be a catalyst that will make collapse of corporate totalitarianism happen much faster, discrediting capitalism and fascism in the eyes of people.

Before people learn we must hit the bottom and ask the radical questions, the roots questions. And we must be allready waiting and prepared in the roots and spreading new seeds so we the people can rise again and build another world. And we are there, we are everywhere.

[HappinessPie]

7. Still disappointing for those of us who are pinning some hope on the EU...

what country do you live in?

Just curious :)

[aneerkoinos]

9. Finland

"Finland, Finland, Finland, Finland,
The country where I want to be,
Pony trekking or camping,
Or just watching TV.
Finland, Finland, Finland.
It's the country for me."

more:
http://cc.oulu.fi/~thu/personal/Finland.html

[sweetheart]

5. growth growth growth?

Europe has outstanding economic fundamentals, and lacks unity, as
britain is being played against other european nations as a puppet
by american wreckers... and tony the asshole plays right in to the
game.

I don't buy this article... it is based on a skewed view of economics
sold by american investment banks, and not fully developed concerns
for the long term political economy.

[Rochambeau]

8. "Bullshit" By Graham Bowley International Herald Tribune n/t

[bemildred]

10. Horseshit. Incoherent, contra-factual horseshit. nt