What's new? Sócrates and Zapatero leave PES for EPP (by Luis de Sousa on March 5th, 2011)

We finally seem to have some coordinated effort from the PES to tackle the crisis. The socialist family has gathered in Greece to present an alternative path to the austerity-rules-all course imposed by the conservatives. They lure to have a thorough answer to the new economic governance rules proposed by Merkel and Sarkozy, now being refined to be voted by the Council later this month. Shy to some extent, it nevertheless points to the obvious building blocs needed to both deal with the crisis and reinforce the Union. The creation of an European Treasury, the creation of an European tax, even the reference to the needed structural paradigm change to build an Economy for the XXI century, all of it seems to be considered by the PES leaders.

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Unfortunately, two socialist leaders missed the meeting: Zapatero and Sócrates. They don't seem to be interested in an alternative to the conservatives' policy. They are now themselves conservatives.

4 years later, the EPP is in government in both countries, and it is to be expected that the two countries would be hostile to a radical left government in Greece. But the PS and PSOE, now in opposition, are also unsympathetic to Syriza just like 4 years ago they were embarrassed to be seen supporting Papandreou.

A pox on all their houses.

A society committed to the notion that government is always bad will have bad government. And it doesn't have to be that way. — Paul Krugman