The New York Times has an excellent article today detailing the plight of youth in England. But, English youth are better off then the rest of European youth. Staggeringly high levels of youth unemployment, reaching 50 percent in some Eurozone countries, are creating a generation of drifting, aimless young Britons and Europeans with no economic future.
This is the natural outcome of government policies that guarantee the good life. The good life has to be paid for. The youth are victims of all of this. By making it virtually impossible to fire anyone, Europe has guaranteed mainly that no one wants to hire any young people. Why? If they don't work out, you can't fire them. So, why hire them in the first place?
Those who thought that the European model was the way to go or that every country in the world can "afford" health care for all of its citizens (and other "affordable" things that government can do), should take a good hard look at Europe today. It is a catastrophe and it is simply a question of numbers.
Economic recovery won't even do the trick given the arithmetic of the welfare state. But, economic recovery is not in the cards with government policies like this.
Take a hard look. This is America's future playing out before our eyes. It is easy to promise, and, for a while, it works. But, eventually massive debt and kicking the can down the road leads to economic chaos and disaster. Europe is paying the price for policies that keep the free market from working. The US is next up on this stage.