What their media call “the far right” grows stronger in France and Germany. In both countries the other political parties have vowed not to join coalitions with them. The result is political stagnation, and economic malaise.
Writing for The Telegraph (U.K.), Matthew Lynn views the continent with emphasis on these two large players and reaches a gloomy conclusion.
The blunt truth is this. These are increasingly poor countries determined to get even poorer. There is no one with the ideas, strength or ability to tackle the challenges they face. The far-Right and hard-Right parties – the AfD in Germany, Marine Le Pen’s National Rally in France – concentrate only on immigration and, while that is an important issue, they have little to say about liberalising markets, controlling the size of the state, or cutting taxes, even though those are the only policies that are likely to restore growth.
As to how the U.K. should deal with the problems next door, Lynn observes the following.
Post-war Japan didn’t get richer by concentrating on Chairman Mao’s China, even if it was its biggest neighbour. Sony and Toyota were too busy selling into America and Europe. Likewise, American multinationals have never focused on the Mexican market. If your closest major neighbour happens to be a basket case, then you look to the global market instead.
We should be distancing ourselves from the whole mess as far as possible.
His conclusion is that if your neighbor decides to be stupid, there is no requirement for you to join him in his foolishness. It is a truth the U.K.’s new PM Starmer seemingly doesn’t comprehend. Hat tip to RealClearWorld for the link.
