Nova Europa: Europe's Second Renaissance (3)

A powerful and united Europe is not possible without a sound European economy. In a time of economic crisis such as now, people all over the continent blame the European Union for its economic  woes. This is, for the most part, an unfair accusation , yet, it is one that cannot easily be dismissed or completely refuted. People will always find a scapegoat in times of economic crisis, and the European Union is a great candidate. The euro, in particular, has been blamed, often and repeatedly, for the economic problems that Europe now faces.

However, the reality is that the European Union's system of free circulation of people and goods is a major plus for the continent's economy. The same could also be said for the existence of a stable common currency such as the Euro.

In spite of all of this, however, much needs to be done in order to improve the European economy. These changes must come from the European Union, the national governments as well as the people of Europe and its businesses, big and small. Solutions for current problems must be found on all of these levels if the European economy is to truly improve in a sustained and durable manner.

What cannot happen and will not, in any case, bring good results, is for people to blame the economic crisis on whatever or whoever they can think of, without truly thinking rationally about these issues and accepting their share of the blame. Right now, we have the Greeks blaming the Germans and the Germans blaming the Greeks. We have the Portuguese blaming Angela Merkel and the European Union. We have the British blaming Europe and foreigners in general. We have France blaming the EU and the Muslims. And so on... Yet, if we really want to improve  the situation, it is necessary to first blame ourselves. And then to blame a number o national governments who have systematically mismanaged national finances and robbed the state arcs. No one is more responsible for the economic problems of Greece, Portugal, Spain and Italy than their own politicians, who have spent decades making a career out of robbing the people who elected them and mismanaging the finances of their countries.

Europeans need to elect better leaders but they also need to start thinking and acting differently. The first step is to stop blaming everyone else for their problems, including Europe and the Euro, and to start assuming some responsibility for their mistakes. The second step is to identify the problems and the third step is to start solving them.

The European Union and the European Central Bank need to start looking closely at their shortcomings and start to correct them. They should assume responsibility for their past mistakes and start doing a better job. This is the only way to gain the people's support.

National governments need to put a stop to corruption, especially in the southern countries. They also need to start spending less money than they make. This might sound like a very obvious thing, but in spite of being obvious it is a principle that is constantly overlooked by irresponsible national governments. The national debts of European governments, particularly southern ones, is too high and is constantly getting bigger. This leads to situations like those of Portugal or, especially, Greece.

There is also a problem of over-taxation in many European countries. This makes it hard for new companies to survive, and even harder fro them to thrive and expand, which in turn leads to shortcomings in the creation of jobs. An outlook of over-taxation discourages potential entrepreneurs, which in  turn leads to fewer jobs, high unemployment, low consumption and even lower tax income for governments. European governments must encourage, not discourage, the creation of companies. This will lead to the creation of more jobs which will allow people to spend more money in the economy and pay higher taxes which will ultimately benefit everyone.

A new age of prosperity can only be possible in an environment where people are willing to create new means of production, namely businesses. European economies have become stagnated and this is due, in no small degree, to the poor entrepreneurial spirit of young Europeans when compared to their American and even Asian counterparts. In an age of high unemployment, it is more important than never to create new businesses, to invest in businesses with growth potential and to develop and apply financial creativity. The new generations of Europeans will have to overcome the current difficulties of a stagnated European economy by proving themselves to be active, adventurous, hard working, imaginative, financially responsible and intrepid members of the active population.