Ezra Klein unwittingly endorses a conservative agenda

Flopping Aces ^ | 12-15-11 | DrJohn

[Starman417]

Ezra Klein is a blogger/columnist for the Washington Post and an unabashed liberal. Klein has the good fortune of never having had to work a real day in his life. He is younger than my oldest son and hasn't half my son's brains. Klein is widely quoted by the left and he regularly pontificates broadly on a wide range of subjects with which he has neither familiarity nor experience.

In a recent column, Klein made an astonishing assertion:

A larger welfare state can mean a lower deficit

In his column he states:

Speaking of things that the European crisis is not about, while I was in Germany, my colleague Robert Samuelson wrote that “Europe’s turmoil is more than a currency crisis and was inevitable, in some form, even if the euro had never been created. It’s ultimately a crisis of the welfare state, which has grown too large to be easily supported economically.”

I don’t think that quite works. Take Germany. They have a pretty big welfare state: pensions, health care, paid vacations, unemployment benefits equal to two-thirds of one’s income. Indeed, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development keeps track of social spending — unemployment, old-age pensions, health care, etc — as a percentage of GDP. In 2007, Germany spent 25.2 percent of their GDP on such things. Greece spent 21.3 percent on social policies. Yet Greece is in crisis, and Germany is fine.

Germany was an interesting choice as support for his argument. It is true that Germany has survived the economic crisis in far better condition than the rest of the European Union. Knowing why it did is critical, and that has escaped the young Klein entirely.

Note that Klein claims Greece spends only 25.2% of their GDP on social spending. This is misleading on an astronomical scale. Most pensions in the EU are kept off the books and the liabilities of Greece are breathtaking. Greece has a total obligation of 875% of GDP. Germany has a total obligation of 418% of GDP.

Government wages and social benefits actually consume 75% of total public spending.

If one harkened back several years one would see other fascinating events.

Beginning in 2003 Germany, facing a 10% unemployment rate, took bold action. Under Gerhard Schroeder Germany began to trim the welfare state:

The most controversial bills passed Friday entailed reducing unemployment benefits and forcing jobless Germans into work they might not choose but that the government deems "reasonable." Those who refuse to accept jobs after 12 to 18 months on unemployment compensation could have their incomes cut by more than 50 percent a month.

In 2007 Germany raised its retirement age to 67.

In 2010, Germany again cut welfare:

Germany will cut welfare benefits, introduce new taxes and shed government jobs to save as much as 80 billion euro through 2014 and set an example for the rest of Europe, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday.

and it cut spending:

[USS Alaska]

I was stationed in Germany 1959-61, and to see how far back that country has come from the devastation {which they earned} of WWII, is remarkable.

The krauts {my wife is part kraut, kinda like a brussel sprout} are the most meticulous, hard working people on the planet.

Their politics or genetics prevent them from ever becoming as free and creative as we are, but no one can doubt how hard they work.

Part of the reason the Germany is as economically stable as they are is because we pay for their country's safety {as well as the rest of the european union peace-niks}.

The German people will not continue to pay for the Greek, Italian, Spanish, Irish etal commies that refuse to reform their own financial mess.

If they pull out of the euro and re-instate the Mark, there will be a collapse beyond anything we've seen to date.

[ozzymandus]

I’ve seen that snotty little punk Klein on TV, and believe me, everything he says is “unwitting”. He’s a child who thinks he’s smarter than his betters.

[ozzymandus]

I’ve seen that snotty little punk Klein on TV, and believe me, everything he says is “unwitting”. He’s a child who thinks he’s smarter than his betters.

[H.Akston]

He looks a little like Dzhokar Tsarnaev. He was “brainwashed” too. Lol. PsOS.