I have a lot of problems with a lot of these arguments. First of all I don't understand what you mean by "not with the socialist program", but germany has one of the most extensive wellfare states in the world. Its unemploymente benefits, for example, are huge. The reason it has much less trouble servicing its welfare system is because, for example, it has a much lower unemployment rate. Unemployment benefits, although I do think should be lower (in my country, Portugal, for example), there is absolutely no relationship between unemployment benefits and unemployment. We have had the exact same unemployment benefit rules and in the year 2000 we had an unemployment of 3 point something per cent and now its officially 15 point something. In reality, 20. This was regarding Germany not being "with it", whatever "it" means.



Regarding Antoni Jaume's point, I don't see what Asnar had to do with it. No federal bodies like Freddiemac and Fannymae were created in spain, though I suspect Gary Marshal's interest in them is because, having a para-public nature, they fit into his the government is the boggie man creed.



If you do want to blame internal forces you would have to blame the cajas, which belong to the the autonomies, or bank regulators. Given that bank regulators failed EVERYWHERE, including in frankfurt, I'm not sure if your argument is sound. I think, on the other hand, it has to do with what Mr soros says, in the beginning of this article:



"When the euro was introduced, regulators allowed banks to buy unlimited amounts of government bonds without setting aside any equity capital, and the ECB discounted all eurozone government bonds on equal terms. Commercial banks found it advantageous to accumulate weaker countries’ bonds to earn a few extra basis points, which caused interest rates to converge across the eurozone. Germany, struggling with the burdens of reunification, undertook structural reforms and became more competitive. Other countries enjoyed housing and consumption booms on the back of cheap credit, making them less competitive."



Frankly, when you resort to meaningless expressions like "some kind of socialist organization" I don't even know where to start. Do you mean redistributive? Government is ALWAYS redistributive. Even collecting taxes to build a road: do you collect a percentage of wealth of an absolute value. If you collect an absolute value, you are collecting less of a percentage from top earners than you are from lower earners, therefore redistributing to the top. If you choose a percentage even if its the same percentage you are redistributing to the bottom, since more of the road will be made using top earner tax money than lower. And I suppose realistic systems that acknowledge that there is an element of luck involved in success and that, regardless of this admission, there is a moral duty to those less priviledged... this is complete marxism to you then?



Regardless, I will tell you what I know best, my country. We have highways to the moon and back. like the euro highways to nowhere were supposed to bring about cohesion, to take development to the desertified interior (which happened to have been filled with textile factories that were liquidated for cheap european buck - eu incentive). These highways were subsidized in 50 per cent and were built using mainly german and french banks. Again, EU incentives promoting the wrong thing, concrete over smart energy grides or clean energy. Why? Like the CAP, to feed lobbies of the main contributors. That is, exactly, the reason for their contribution. Moreover, these contracts generated a great consumption of resources and structuring of the economy around concrete and construction and not the export sector. On top of all of this, the creation of a parallel state of task groups and advisors and lawyers that excelled at sacrificing the sate and locking us in bullet proof contracts that will sacrifice the next 2 generations.



Funnily, this isnt our main problem. Our problem is growth. We did not have a housing bubble. Most portuguese people wish we had. We are taking all of the heat without any of the gain. Quite simply, our problem wasnt too much government, it was too little. Not too little in size, but too little in political leadership, in recognizing shumpeterian forces with the enlargement and the openning to china and in helping promote exports. Because then we had the money, or we could get it. The state exists to help organize, provide direction, provide support for small and medium sized business. This is what happens in Germany. Almost all of their banks are public and their missions often are that of operating as public investment banks to the private sector and not commercial banks. None of this we did. There is tremendous will to "adjust", as the euphemism goes. But quite simply our educational profile is so different from what is now needed that we need time! Time and interest rates that do no treat millions of people like incompetent little children that must be taught a moral and espiritual lesson. Because despite everything, and a recession of all our major trading partners, portuguese exports have grown around 10% since the bailout started. The problem is that we are starting from a weak base and not just of exports does the economy live. Domestic consumption is at a virtual stand still and, unlike what is said about souther european labour markets, the truth is that we are so flexible that increases in exports cannot even dream of incorporating enough workers to off set unemployment.