A CONTINENTAL QUESTION
Submitted by The Capital Spectator
Unemployment in Europe is now at 10%, matching the jobless rate in the U.S. Does this undermine the argument in favor of European-style bigger government that’s more proactive in trying to minimize the perceived limits of capitalism? One response is that Europe didn’t do as much as the U.S. to mitigate the recession. For instance, the European Central Bank didn’t cut interest rates as quickly or as deeply as did the Fed. If the problem was a slow and weak monetary response, maybe the so-called friendlier face of capitalism in Europe isn’t all that helpful after all in the grand scheme of economic cycles. In that case, perhaps the lesson is that it’s best to let free markets bloom and intervene only when and if it’s necessary during financial panics a la Bagehot’s lender of last resort doctrine.
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