Money quote from David Brooks’ post-mortem on the French “no” vote [joined Wednesday by the Dutch] :
Over the last few decades, American liberals have lauded the German
model or the Swedish model or the European model. But these models are
not flexible enough for the modern world. They encourage people to
cling fiercely to entitlements their nation cannot afford. And far from
breeding a confident, progressive outlook, they breed a reactionary
fear of the future that comes in left- and right-wing varieties – a
defensiveness, a tendency to lash out ferociously at anybody who
proposes fundamental reform or at any group, like immigrants, that
alters the fabric of life.
Meanwhile, MIT Sloan School professor Yasheng Huang writes in the Financial Times about the need for institutional reform in China. His final paragraph:
Two remarkable facts need to be kept in mind. First, every single
economy that has caught up with the west since the second world war is
located in east Asia. Second, the only two east Asian economies not to
have caught up are China and North Korea.
A decade ago Lester Thurow and others warned about losing The Coming Economic Battle Among Japan, Europe, and America.
Now, we’re told about the economic threats from China, India, and
immigration. The French fear Polish plumbers. As the Brooks quote
illustrates, liberty dies not “with thunderous applause” but with a petulant whine.
