Business Spectator

Other European countries could learn a thing or two from both Estonia’s previous economic reforms and its tough but successful austerity policies. If Europe became a bit more like its latest eurozone member, everyone would be a winner. But does this sound even remotely likely?

Time will tell whether consumers are willing to pay for news products despite the availability of free content provided by public broadcasters. As with previous technology innovations, it is possible that both types of news may co-exist rather peacefully.

I am sure readers will agree with me that 2011 will be another cracker of a year for Europe. Stable political leadership, sound economic management and monetary steadiness will once again prevail. Given this altogether positive outlook, my chances of being wrong have now been reduced dramatically to just about three in four. And if there is one thing that I am slightly more confident about than this forecast, it is that on the 25th of December 2011 it will be Christmas once again.

On a philosophical level, Europe’s crisis can be interpreted as a practical lesson in the errors of constructivism. It shows what happens if grown economic and social structures are wilfully ignored and replaced by systems designed in academic ivory towers and the backrooms of power.

Charlemagne not only entered the history books as the great unifier of Europe. He also established a stable, silver-backed currency whose weight units survived for more than a millennium in many countries. Giving a prize in Charlemagne’s name to a person complicit in the rapid debasement of a paper currency is another bitter-sweet European irony.

Over the past three years we have had to get used to numbers with lots of noughts. Stimulus packages, bank bailouts and public debt figures have reached dimensions well beyond the imagination of the average person. It also appears that dealing with these fantastic sums on a daily basis has led policymakers to lose perspective. What else could explain current speculation that the Euro rescue fund may have to be expanded?

By putting an overemphasis on risk, Europe has turned itself into an inward looking, stagnant society. No wonder that path-breaking research increasingly happens outside the EU.

The rise of politicians talking about ‘happiness’ and ‘general well-being’ is a new European fad with similar initiatives also undertaken by Nicolas Sarkozy in France and Angela Merkel in Germany. But you don’t have to be a cynic to detect their ulterior motives. ‘Happiness’ is either used as a political repositioning tool for politicians wishing to appear as caring, or it is used in countries that have given up hope on future economic growth and seek different measures to feign success.