Telegraph: Financial crisis analysis: Europe's centrist parties are crumbling - by Damien McElroy
Financial crisis analysis: Europe's centrist parties are crumbling - by Damien McElroy
The trap for Europe's centrist parties is strengthened with each spell in power. "They can't stop the foreigners coming, they can't provide the revival that would come from new jobs and they can't give people the voice they want," said a former EU official. "Every upheaval only entrenches the system." The turbulence in the financial markets compounds the trend, though it has revealed winners among the established parties as well as manifest losers. As governments reach for a strong statist response to potential collapse, there is reward for those who demonstrate a firm grip. Opposition parties unable to match an incumbent government's mastery of interventionist policies, even if they are leftist like the French Socialists, are being eclipsed.
Labels: European Economy, Politics
