Sobre a urgência de abandonar o modelo social europeu

Burn, Social Model, Burn, por Johnny Munkhammar.

The intense riots that started in the suburbs of Paris and have now spread throughout France and even across Europe may have been triggered by a single event, but their real causes run deep and are complex. They are a reflection of the way the so-called European Social Model has been applied in France. The areas involved can rightly be described as powder kegs that have been ready to explode for a long time.

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France is one of the strongest defenders of the European Social Model. The main feature of the Model is a big state -- with high taxes, a regulated labor market, public welfare monopolies and large social security systems. But after the events in Paris, isn't it about time that France too realizes that this is an anti-social model that we should leave behind?###

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The high taxes required to support the Model do not simply reduce people's opportunities to run their own lives, they also put a brake on growth. Economic activity is low and living standards stagnant; and in several places they are deteriorating. Small businesses must pay high taxes and are extremely regulated, so that way to a better life is also shut for many.

The anti-social effects of the Model hit immigrants harder. Regulated housing markets produce ghetto-like suburbs. Since hiring always involves a risk for the employer, a regulated and unionized labor market excludes immigrants. They are deprived of their opportunities to compete. Reforms that take us away from this Model could solve much of this. With low taxes, a free labor market and fewer regulations for companies, the situation could change. We could have new jobs and increased prosperity. And we could give immigrants the chance to integrate into society and work.

The countries of Western Europe could become winners in a globalized world. In a society with good conditions for creative activity -- where the state is smaller -- most people would get a chance to take care of their lives. There are countries that have done this, such as Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Slovakia, the US and Estonia. For every job lost, there are two new ones. Small companies are growing. This is what we could do too.

Leaving this anti-social model behind may be the most important thing we could do to create better opportunities for immigrants. They want to contribute to society, they want to work -- not just be locked up in suburbs denied every opportunity.

If we don't do something soon to defuse this bomb, we will see Paris of today repeated all across Western Europe.