Weekend elections: Democracy and the fiscal compact

~ Frederic Sautet ~

Unless it's a "sure thing" the last thing politicians want is a voter referendum. Simply put, politicians never stand for democracy. What voters want is a different thing: 72% of Irish Want Referendum on Fiscal Treaty The Irish government faces intense pressure to hold a referendum on the eurozone fiscal treaty after a poll that showed almost three quarters of the public want a vote on the agreement.

BUSINESS leaders in India frequently suffer China envy. If only India's political system was like China's, they reason, the government could push through much needed reforms and the economy would take off (and stay airborne). Simplistic as that prescription is, recent data from India highlight the challenges of sustaining growth in a noisy democracy. In the first quarter of this year, India's economy grew by a paltry 5.3%—the country's lowest rate in nine years.

By Jacob Steinberg:This weekend was very important for the very existence of the Euro Zone. Two troubled countries of the fiscal union had elections, and things aren't looking good for either. At least we know that Germany will not be happy with the results. From the looks of it, François Hollande will not go along with Germany's desires. Germany wants to cut social spending in European nations; Mr. Hollande wants to increase it in France.

Inquiring minds might be wondering what is the best way forward for Greece. To some extent, the question is akin to asking "would you prefer to lose a one hand and one eye or your left leg?" I have been thinking about the Greece "least bad" question for quite some time, but what brought about this post is a "by the editors" article on Bloomberg.

David Leonhardt once again delivers with a great column, this time on the global enthusiasm for austerity. He sums up the case against the austerity wave sweeping the world, and summarizes why it’s happening anyway:

In the wake of Papandreou's Call for Voter Referendum on EU Debt Deal sovereign debt yields plunged in Germany and surged higher in most other European countries, but most notably Italy and France.