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The Economist has a rumination on the challenges Europe faces in the year ahead. In the “Charlemagne” column, the author discusses the “failed” Lisbon agenda, set forth in 2000 that imagined a much more robust European economy than the one that has come to pass. The great goals of a knowledge-based economy and strong economic growth has not been realized. Yet, European leaders continue to give lip service to these goals. Still, the author blames Europeans themselves and not their leaders for this failure.
I was most struck by the following excerpt:
Lisbon failed because lots of Europeans do not want to live in the most dynamic and competitive economy in the world. They prefer to work fewer hours than Americans or Japanese (about 10% fewer, on average), to take long holidays, and to retire as soon as possible. Among EU leaders it is fashionable to predict that the financial crisis will lead to a revolution in “European economic governance”. Yet that phrase hides a dearth of new ideas.
I find that quote very telling, because it exposes this view that economic growth should be an end in itself. What he’s saying is that, in their heart of hearts, Europeans will choose a better quality of life over economic growth for its own sake. I have to say I admire that view. When conservative attack liberals for their secret agenda to Europeanize the American economy, I think “what part of total healthcare coverage, fewer work hours, longer vacations, earlier retirement, do you not like?”
An economic system should be a means to an end with the end being a better human existance. As the saying goes, “nobody every laid on their deathbed saying, ‘I wish I’d spend more time at the office.’” Obviously, you can overshoot and, if your economic system does not produce enough wealth to sustain a good quality of life, it needs to be adjusted. And maybe the ideal is somewhere between Europe and the U.S. But, in the American debate, it seems that that we sometimes lose sight of what the real purpose of a strong economy ought to be.
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