On Eurotrash

By David Harsanyi

Wednesday, April 06, 2022

 

Kevin hasn’t delved into Eurotrash (subtle titles, by the way, are for suckers) to the extent Kyle has, but in it I note upfront that Western European nations are wealthier and freer than most, and some of their policies are still worth appropriating. Very broadly, I argue:

 

(1) Europe is on the wrong moral and economic trajectory, abandoning many of its best ideas and principles, so we should not follow its lead. (2) Europhiles often mislead the public about alleged European successes as a means of persuading voters to adopt policies that neither scale economically nor comport with our priorities. (3) We do not think or act as Europeans. Nor should we try.

 

Nowhere do I contend, however, that our health-care system isn’t in need of improvements or that any one European system tells us the entire story. Rather, I maintain that comparisons used by Europhiles to rationalize abolishing the private health-care insurance system — life expectancy, infant mortality, and costs — are highly misleading. “Americans are fat and homicidal” is nothing to brag about, for sure. But that’s an argument against guns, highways, fast-food restaurants, and personal choices, not for European-style health care.

 

Kevin also says our tax bills aren’t radically different from those in Europe, pointing out that the U.S.’s tax-to-GDP ratio is just over 27 percent, while it is fairly close in places such as Switzerland (28.5), Spain (33), and Germany (37.)

 

First, I suspect the average American would find a 10 percent tax hike “radically different.” Second, the average tax-to-GDP ratio in the European Union is 41 percent, and higher in nations that progressives want us to emulate, like France (47), Denmark (47), Belgium (46), Sweden (44), and Finland (42). Paul Krugman and Bernie Sanders aren’t interested in Hungary’s 9 percent corporate tax rate; they want Denmark’s system, where the average person, poor or rich, pays at least 54 percent in individual taxes alone.

 

As for our irresponsible spending, you’ll have no argument from me. I’m not sure, though, why Spain (government spending at 41 percent of GDP), Netherlands (42), and Germany (44) merit special attention over France (62), Belgium (60), Norway (58), Austria (58), Finland (56), Denmark (54), Sweden (52). As for public debt, I also think it’s a huge problem, but Singapore and Japan hold higher levels of debt than we do, while Botswana and Guatemala hold far less. So I’m unsure why it’s a more important metric than others.

 

And, no, I don’t believe Europe’s lack of technological innovation makes it a less desirable society than China. Though I do think the lack of dynamism and entrepreneurship in Europe reflects poorly on a culture that prioritizes security and “equality” over risk-taking and meritocracy. As I detail in the book, technocrats in the U.S. are very interested in importing those values.