"Austerity" is now a dirty word in Europe
Activists wear masks featuring German Chancellor Angela Merkel (2nd R) and incoming French President Francois Hollande (2nd L) as they perform a fake marriage in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, on May 7, 2012. / GettyImages
(AP) PARIS - The day after Francois Hollande rode to power in France on a slogan of "change now," the conversation in Europe was already different Monday: Austerity had become a dirty word.
What replaces it, though, was anything but clear.
The newly powerful in France and Greece want to roll back the spending cuts and tax increases that have defined Europe's response to its 3-year-old debt crisis. But campaign rhetoric is likely to prove more extreme than any real-world reversal of the budget tightening.
World financial markets took Europe's latest round of political upheaval in stride, convulsing early and then recovering. The continent's uncertain future - including the possibility of Greece leaving the euro - was causing anxiety but not panic about the threat to the global economy.
But there is hardly unity in Europe.
Sunday night, Socialist president-elect Hollande celebrated his victory over Nicolas Sarkozy by vowing, "Austerity can no longer be inevitable!" (At left, watch CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips' report on whether Hollande can actually reverse existing austerity deals.)
On Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel gently pushed back.
She rejected Hollande's call to renegotiate a treaty signed last month on tougher action to control government deficits. "We in Germany, and I personally," she said, "believe the fiscal pact is not up for negotiation."
Still, she stressed the importance of French-German cooperation - and her willingness to meet soon with Hollande.
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IMF chief warns against steep budget cuts
Economists said that while the anti-austerity winds are bound to stir up short-term political instability, especially in Greece, they could eventually bring some financial calm.
"This is going to force some rethinking" all across Europe about how to manage the debt crisis, said Laura Gonzalez, a finance professor at Fordham University in New York. "That is good for everybody."
Greece remains the focus of Europe's financial and political unease. Political parties that made gains by rejecting belt-tightening still have to assemble a majority coalition in Parliament before they can begin governing. The conservatives got the first try Monday but failed - leaving a new left-wing, party to take its turn. If no party can assemble a coalition, the country will need to hold new elections, probably in June.
The main stock index in Greece plunged almost 7 percent. France's CAC-40 ended 1.7 percent higher.
The Dow Jones industrial average in the United States fell as much as 68 points early Monday but recouped its losses and ended the day down 30 at 13,008.
The biggest fear was that Greece's new leadership would renege on commitments made to secure the country's massive rescue loans - or even leave the euro. Merkel pressed Greek leaders on Monday to stay the course. "Of course, the most important thing is that the programs we agreed with Greece are continued," she said.
Greece wasn't the only problem. The 17 countries that use the euro - and nine other European countries - agreed in March to the fiscal compact that seeks to make countries balance their budgets. But bailout fears have intensified in recent months as Spain, Italy and other governments face rising borrowing costs on bond markets, a sign that investors are nervous about the size of their debts relative to their economic output. Austerity was intended to address these jitters by reducing their government's borrowing needs, but there has been a negative side effect: As economic output shrinks, the debt burden actually looks worse.
As Europe's economy got weaker, the public and politicians grew weary of the budget-cutting required to make the fiscal compact work. Across Europe, austerity meant layoffs and pay cuts for state workers, scaled-back expenditures on welfare and social programs, and higher taxes and fees to boost government revenue.
Hollande says he intends to renegotiate the fiscal treaty so that it places an emphasis on growth and not just deficit reduction. He says governments should actually increase spending now, while economies are so weak.
Merkel and the European Central Bank have instead stressed deeper, long term fixes such as reducing red tape for small businesses, making it easier for workers to find jobs across the eurozone and breaking down barriers that countries have created to protect their own industries. Those changes involve challenging unions and other powerful constituencies - and they can take years to have an effect.
The anti-austerity sentiment appears to be picking up strength.
In Italy on Monday, several candidates in local elections who oppose the deficit-cutting promoted by Premier Mario Monti had a strong showing. And the head of the International Monetary Fund - one of the institutions that designed the Greek bailout and the austerity measures that go with it - warned that Europe has to be careful about pushing austerity too far. Christine Lagarde said European countries should reduce their budget deficits gradually to avoid further damage to their economies.
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And how did they do it? By pretending they were in crisis and laying off workers, cutting wages, cutting benefits AND pocketing the savings!
WHY?
Because they must punish "the masses" for DARING to elect a black man that would stand up to them! How dare he!!!
WELL punish away "Corporations Now Known as People" - We WILL elect him AGAIN!
OBAMA 2012
Republicans work FOR corporations and if we expect this country to be run by the people, for the people - we've GOT to get as many republicans as possible OUT of Washington!
Others wonder whether the US Supreme Court will continue its present course in judicially active big government.
What does the ordinary citizen need to know about Obamacare and Supreme Court Review? Experience Life among the Ordinary and read the second segment in a three part series at
http://lifeamongtheordinary.blogspot.com/2012/05/obamacare-and-supreme-court-review-part.html
LOL ! ! !
Example: A local Caterpillar strike. Caterpillar is a hugely successful, highly profitable company headquartered in Peoria; it's busily selling its equipment to builders in China, Latin America, Israel (in the US, not so much...). Caterpillar's "last, best, and final offer" to the union that represents its workers called for a six-year (six-year!) wage freeze plus higher employee contributions for benefits; aka lower net take-home pay from now through 2018. Meanwhile, Caterpillar's Chairman, CEO, COO, CFO, and other top execs earn annual compensation in the six- and seven-figure range, and are NOT facing a wage freeze for one or two or six years....
There's a REASON why "austerity" is a dirty word...on BOTH sides of the Atlantic Ocean!