European Austerity Policies Ignite Demonstrations Throughout The Region
Europe roiled with strikes and marches as citizens protested austerity measures–which include cutting cultural services and increasing taxes–which governing bodies are enforcing as they try to climb out of the European debt crisis. A primary complaint is that when European governments spent billions to bail out banks, austerity forces the general public to foot the bill. As the demonstrations raged, a United States government representative seemed to side with the demonstrators. The representative, a top United States of America Treasury official, said it was too early in the recovery for European governments to abandon stimulus and embrace austerity.
Crowds come with austerity
A day of austerity demonstrations was shown all throughout Europe on Wednesday. There was a march across Europe with hundreds of thousands of people. Reuters reports that the demonstrations were led by trade unions, which say austerity will slow economic recovery and punish the poorest citizens. 12 European capitals had protests in them organized by trade unions in order to say they did not like the idea of spending cuts and pension and labor market reforms. In Europe, there was a crowd of about 60,000 in Brussels, Belgium waving their banners in protest. These banners said things like “Priority to jobs and growth” and “No to austerity.”
Austerity focused on altering cultural systems the most
The austerity protests in Brussels coincided with a proposal from the European Union Commission for new penalties that punish member states gripped by joblessness for running up deficits to fund cultural systems. The Huffington Post reports that the EU proposal is something that Germany supports one of the most. Of course, that means the country of France disagrees with it. France does not like the idea of strict rules deciding things and thinks that is should really just be sanctions. You will find other nations in Europe being affected. Greek doctors and railway employees walked out on the job. Spanish workers made their statement too. Buses and trains were shut down. One man in Ireland used a cement truck to protest. He was protesting the bank bailouts in the country by blocking Irish parliament.
U.S. advises less austerity actions in Europe
Amid all the austerity protests, a top U.S. Treasury official visiting Frankfurt implored European officials to exercise restraint. There is a massive debate between the U.S. and Europe about what the real solution to the global economic crisis is. The Wall Street Journal reports the debate is between austerity and stimulus. Europe just wants to reduce spending and increase taxes while the U.S. says doing a stimulus is the only way to go. U.S. Treasury Undersecretary for International Affairs Lael Brainard said with weak global demand and low inflation, supporting a lasting recovery, not austerity, must continue as the primary objective.
Details from
Reuters
reuters.com/article/idUSLDE68S24620100929?type=marketsNews
Huffington Post
huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/29/spain-strikes-over-auster_n_743014.html#s146799
Wall Street Journal
online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703431604575521833087264428.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
