European Unions Increasingly Desperate

In a sign that unions in Europe are beginning to understand that politicians and taxpayers in general are on to their racket and are seeking to clamp down on public spending, the unions are now making unpersuasive arguments that decreased spending on them will negatively affect their national economies.

"Almost all 27 EU nations are trying to curb spending and reduce debt to contain a financial crisis that threatens Europe's currency union and has sent stocks — and the euro — sliding in recent weeks.

Monks expressed his fears after attending a meeting between workers' representatives, Europe's major employer federation and EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

He said he'd asked for the talks "out of despair and alarm at the prospects for growth in Europe as all countries, not just those in distress, move to cut their budgets, move to reduce public expenditure."

"We're seeing cut, cut, cut in all the countries simultaneously which is what they did in 1931 and that caused the Great Depression," he told the Associated Press. "The cost will be in jobs, the cost will be in pay levels for people in the public services in particular, and pensions."

Exorbitant state spending in Europe is the problem and is one of the primary reasons that most of their economies are currently in the tank. Drastically scaling back public spending is the solution. It's as simple as that. This point holds true in the US as well.

Yes, there will be pain and dislocation as public employees, who are used to being vastly overpaid at the expense of productive members of society, have to find more creative ways to earn a living.

Nonetheless, states that are only now imposing austerity measures should not back away from those plans due to complaining by those who feel the pain the most. In the long run, scaling back the role of government, and the amount of money spent by government, is in the best interest of their economies.