I have argued many times before that the left could have solved the problems in Spain, but they decided to do nothing.
That is simply not true. Not only did the left attempt to solve the problems, but they actually succeed in many areas like consolidation in the banking sector. Did they go far enough? No they did not, but stuff like this does not happen over night, which is what the markets want. Personally I would have loved to see them nationalise some of the big building companies and their unsold homes and make them into social housing since ironically there is a housing shortage in Spain for Spaniards.
It was in fact Bill Clinton who created the problems in America, but I am still blaming Bush, because he had time to solve it.
It was in fact a right wing congress that created the basis for the bubble and Clinton who signed it into law. Bush did nothing to solve the problem that is correct.. but a tad hard since his government was packed with the very people who created the basis for the crisis under Clinton..
Increasing spending and reducing economic freedom is not being right on economic issues.
Reducing what economic freedom? They let the banks run wild lol.
So when it is the right who does it, then it is policy, but when the left does it, then it is structural. Structural problems are policy problems. They could have improved the situation, but they chose to do nothing.
Er no. Portugal has always been structural from the days of the dictatorship. Both sides did nothing.
Maybe on social issues, but economically I just hear two guys fighting about who hates the rich and bankers the most. Sarkozy increased taxes and wants to increase taxes again, on income and on finance. He even wants an exit tax to trap people inside the country.
Sarkozy wants to get elected, and if you have not noticed the population dont like the rich tax dodgers and the bankers who created the crisis... he is a populist. That is why even the conservatives in the UK have to hit down .. at least on the face of it.. on bankers bonuses.
Oh... come on. Tax collection is not that difficult. The reason PASOK failed is because they have terrible policies. Don't blame it one the markets.
Actually it is very difficult if you dont have the structural parts in place. If you knew anything of Greek history, collecting taxes or the lack of that, goes back many many decades and even centuries.. when the Ottomans ruled Greece, it was seen as a national duty to resist the Turkish tax collectors. This idea has been passed down generation after generation..
Except, 27 countries did not collapse. Of the countries I mentioned, we can exclude France because they didn't collapse, and it is not fair to blame Greece on the left or the right.
Spain, Italy and the UK have not collapsed...And why have you left out the countries in eastern Europe who followed the American right wing economic model including Flat Tax, that all have collapsed or been in serious trouble?
I don't know why it is so difficult to understand for many on the left. Mismanagement causes crisis.
It is not hard to understand and I agree... but the blame has to be put in the correct place.
No, bankers do not cause crisis.
Hog wash. Bankers DID cause the sub-prime mortgage crisis, by first lobbying the GOP and Dems to allow the dergulation that made it possible to go greed nuts, and then demanding to be bailed out when their gambles failed horribly..
Mismanagement causes crisis. The crisis were not caused by the left or the right. Both left wing and right wing governments cause crisis, because mismanagement causes crisis.
In other words you just flipflopped. It is now not the fault of the left like most conservatives claim but now because of miss-management. Regardless... the governments in place in most countries that "miss-managed" according to you.. were pretty much all right wing governments going on right wing economic principles.. hell even the left wing governments were using right wing economic principles.
What policies? America has left most of the policies from Reagan a long time ago, and so has UK. France has always opposed it, and look at what is happening to France. Germany is much more free market, and look at them.
and you continue to amaze me. US economic policies along with the UK have not changed since Reagan. It has been deregulation with more spending and lowering taxes and running constant large deficits. Even New Labour did this. As for Germany what of them? That they make a ton of stuff, the new rich in China and middle east want? Is it some sort of a shocker that their economy might be better off?
The problem lies in America. Left wing policies is what people generally wants. Hey, rich people. Share some of that wealth. America has always been a beacon of hope for many conservatives around the world, and irritation from the left, but now the GOP has turned corrupt and ideological. Now, the US is not free or equal, and left wing populism is getting popular. US could have had a more equal society, but also a more free society if they pursued different polices.
Without America as a counterweight, with declining incomes, then the people are heading left. And they are blaming right wing politics, because America is no longer a role model. Funny enough, conservative countries such as New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Ireland, Singapore, Switzerland does better than left wing countries, and have less problems during the crisis. But that doesn't help when you don't have America.
LOL Ireland is a freaking mess. Australia is sitting on a gold mine of natural resource it is sucking up like no tomorrow to fuel its economy. Singapore is the greed capital of the world, so no wonder they are doing good.. you could sell your mother there for a profit I bet. The Swiss are not doing as well as you might think. Their economy is faltering because of the high currency and their banking industry is being forced open in the battle against tax dodgers. As for New Zealand, well.. does not come up on the radar much.. unless it has something to do with sheep.... but like Australia, it was isolated nicely from the crisis.
No what is happening is that we have the Internet, and people are realizing that myths we have been spoon fed for generations about the all so mighty, free and fair US are actually a load of crap. And it all started in 2000 when Bush won the contested election.. when the world saw how pathetic an election system that the US actually had. Ever since then, more and more myths have been killed off... especially the myths about freedom, and fairness.. and that means we are scrambling to find a new thing we can aspire too.... after all aspiring to become like the US is not exactly good any more.
I remember as a child hearing from my parents on how great the US was, how free and fair, and how horrible Denmark was and so on. Now days it is the exact opposite and people are amazed that you for example dont have 4+ internet providers in most areas of the US.. and that cost is so large.
He wants to reduce the retirement age to 60. I think he is quite soft on immigration and Islam. He wants adopt rent control, a failed policy from America. He wants to spend more on education and public housing, but somehow is going to balance the budget. 
