The presidential victory of socialist Francois Hollande in France is being presented everywhere as a vote for \u201cgrowth\u201d over stagnation:<\/p>\n
[Irish Foreign Minister] Eamon Gilmore last night said <\/a>the election of Francois Hollande will “accelerate” a growth agenda in Europe.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
And:<\/p>\n
Mr. Hollande has said <\/a>that he intends to give \u201ca new direction to Europe,\u201d demanding that a European Union treaty limiting debt be expanded to include measures to produce economic growth.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
<\/p>\n
What a brilliant act of branding.\u00a0 Implication: Those who believe in reining in government debt and spending are \u201canti-growth.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Those who believe that the private economy and the free market are the only true sources of economic growth are \u201canti-growth.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The pro-big government stimulus spenders have managed to turn a disagreement over means into a division over ends.\u00a0 Obviously, there is a lot more work to be done in explaining how an economy works.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The fact that Germany’s is practically the only non-moribund economy in Europe should in theory help make the case for government discipline, but the false promise of the big government Ponzi scheme is apparently too seductive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The presidential victory of socialist Francois Hollande in France is being presented everywhere as a vote for \u201cgrowth\u201d over stagnation: [Irish Foreign Minister] Eamon Gilmore last night said the election of Francois Hollande will “accelerate” a growth agenda in Europe. … Continue reading