A lesson for the welfare state

The US budget conflict demonstrates how badly the US is in need of reform, the daily România Liberă writes: "This marks the end for the Obama team's Keynesian policies and opens a debate on the sustainability of the welfare state in the US that will no doubt play a central role in the US elections next year before spilling over into Europe. ... The US is relearning that state programmes can't create enough jobs, the social safety net cannot replace private initiative, government subsidies are no substitute for productivity and nothing is for free. ... What lessons does this teach us? They are the same for Europe as for the US: the state is over-sized and suffocates the economy. The distribution mechanisms don't work and must be reviewed, so as to prevent the crisis from eternally threatening bankruptcy."

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