Thursday, January 19, 2006
I Was So Right, But in the Wrong Way
As I was preparing to come to Portugal I anticipated very gauche (left, pardon the French) ideas about politics, economics, and society in general. You see, the European way has been overt socialism for a very long time. Even during the times of the kingdoms, it was the rule of the king that allowed him to take ownership of anything he wanted. From this came our phrase "absolute power corrupts absolutely." For decades, nearly all industry in Europe has been government owned and run. I was expecting to find this idea at the forefront of public thinking.
Many American political scientists look at this as a fashionable trend. They see this as the way to go. Thus, we have our national healthcare movement among other efforts to nationalize industry. I was expecting too, since I am attending a prominent university, to get a bunch of socialist thinking as an add on to the language information.
Several times a week I hear somebody on campus complaining about the economy as they talk on their $300 phone. I guess the unemployment rate of Portugal to be between six and eight percent, but that is hard to gauge with all of the factors present (self-employment, the huge black market, the influx of female workers over the last 20 years, the start of youth in full time jobs, etc.).
My real guess is that these people are typical university feel good people, who fail to remember that economies are never good or bad. You may be surprised to read this, but it is true. Markets rise and fall, but economies are just people deciding what they value more. My teachers have lamented the "loss of jobs" and told of the strain on the economy that privatization has brought.
That is right. I was correct in anticipating a socialist mindset, but I was wrong about the trend. You see, the trend in Europe is privatization. The government is not getting out of industry (government always tries to take it over), but industry is leaving the government. Portugal has been a part of that. The government run banks, telephone companies, and you name the other industry have been overwhelmed when the market has been opened to private industry. In some cases, this has resulted in the loss of government jobs. However, the private groups, including the black market, have begun to boom.
This coming Sunday, Portugal will have a presidential election. The key issue has been the economy. Each candidate stating that his plan is to bring more jobs and that his opponent's plan is to get rid of them. I cannot tell you exactly who will do what because I do not have a full understanding of the Portuguese political world, but I do know this, that if the trend continues, government run industry will "wither on the vine," because the market always does the job better and cheaper.
Many American political scientists look at this as a fashionable trend. They see this as the way to go. Thus, we have our national healthcare movement among other efforts to nationalize industry. I was expecting too, since I am attending a prominent university, to get a bunch of socialist thinking as an add on to the language information.
Several times a week I hear somebody on campus complaining about the economy as they talk on their $300 phone. I guess the unemployment rate of Portugal to be between six and eight percent, but that is hard to gauge with all of the factors present (self-employment, the huge black market, the influx of female workers over the last 20 years, the start of youth in full time jobs, etc.).
My real guess is that these people are typical university feel good people, who fail to remember that economies are never good or bad. You may be surprised to read this, but it is true. Markets rise and fall, but economies are just people deciding what they value more. My teachers have lamented the "loss of jobs" and told of the strain on the economy that privatization has brought.
That is right. I was correct in anticipating a socialist mindset, but I was wrong about the trend. You see, the trend in Europe is privatization. The government is not getting out of industry (government always tries to take it over), but industry is leaving the government. Portugal has been a part of that. The government run banks, telephone companies, and you name the other industry have been overwhelmed when the market has been opened to private industry. In some cases, this has resulted in the loss of government jobs. However, the private groups, including the black market, have begun to boom.
This coming Sunday, Portugal will have a presidential election. The key issue has been the economy. Each candidate stating that his plan is to bring more jobs and that his opponent's plan is to get rid of them. I cannot tell you exactly who will do what because I do not have a full understanding of the Portuguese political world, but I do know this, that if the trend continues, government run industry will "wither on the vine," because the market always does the job better and cheaper.
