Greece General Strike

By Douglas V. Gibbs

Liberalism continues to collapse Europe, and the most glaring example is Greece. A general strike has been called by the two major unions in that country, quite literally shutting down the government. Since Greece is plagued with entitlements gone wild, the whole country has essentially shut down.

The protests quickly became violent as demonstrators threw stones and gasoline bombs at police outside parliament. The general strike shut down all transportation, reduced hospitals to skeleton crews, and shut down most shops and all schools.

The unrest is over a coming parliamentary vote on a fresh package of tax increases and spending cuts required by international creditors in return for crucial bailout cash - hence the reason why the austerity measures are not working. As long as tax increases accompany the the cuts in spending, the measures will fail.

Leave it to the liberal mind to think that raising taxes is the solution.

Raising taxes in any economic climate discourages families, small businesses, and investors from engaging in the behaviors that lift economies out of slumps.

Tax hikes slow any opportunity for economic growth, and reduces incentives for consumerism, and production. Reducing taxes provides more capi­tal to the economy, which encourages market activity, and spurs the basic elements of economic growth.

Higher tax rates discourage individ­uals from working harder and saving larger portions of what they earn, which in turn impedes growth, and reduce the number of jobs that businesses would have created had tax rates been lower.

I have never come across a business owner that said to me, "Gosh, if only they would raise taxes so that I can hire more people and grow my business."

In a system like the one in the United States, tax hikes raise the cost of capital. Businesses use capital to hire more workers. More capital equals more productivity. If the cost of capital increases, businesses will demand less of it, which in turn leads to fewer jobs available, and lower wages.

The liberals of Greece don't get this, and that is why Athens is burning.

As for the rest of Europe, the economic crisis in that region is proof enough that liberalism fails wherever it is tried.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

Violence erupts as 2-day general strike against austerity measures shuts down Greece - Yahoo News