The Big Difference Between the German and the U.S. Economy is Spelled WAR

David Brooks is a reasonably reasonable conservative, and his sociological insights often canny, but his political conclusions are usually off. In his column last Friday, The Parent Model he is trying to twist reality against Obama's stimulus package, but that is absurd. The German economy - like many other European economies - has built-in automatic stabilizers. The Germans didn't need to pass laws to boost the economy as it already has a system in place, which protects jobs and secures people's income and health insurance in a recession. This is not the case in the U.S., making a more forceful government action necessary. The fact that the U.S. is deeper in debt than the Germans is a result of conservative recklessness, especially the Bush tax cuts and the unfunded wars. Which brings us to the probably most consequential difference between the U.S. and Germany.... the war cost. The civilian American economy is undermined by the military expenditures, which perverts its competitiveness and increases the country's reliance on outsourcing.

Good parenting is not going to solve this issue.

Hans Sandberg