Austerity? We don't need no stinking austerity? Or do we?

Guess which country did this?

"As well as slashing public sector wages, the government responded to the 2008 crisis by raising the pension age, making it harder to claim health benefits and reducing job protection — all measures that have been met with anger when proposed in Western Europe."

If you guessed Estonia you would be right.  HERE is the full article.

This caught my eye since it appears Estonia's neighbors to the south in Europe are balking at austerity and even booting political leaders who propose it.  Since my friend George Rebane is from the Baltics originally, I thought this comment from the article would put a smile on his face.

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"History helps explain citizens’ willingness to bite the austerity bullet. Estonia broke free from Soviet rule just over 20 years ago, together with its Baltic neighbors Latvia and Lithuania — who are also enjoying a robust recovery, but are outside the euro zone."

 Could it be these small countries who lived under the boot of the USSR learned the value of what made America great once?  The values of hard work, sacrifice and savings accounts?  Or maybe the lack of everything under the Soviets? When the commies left a vacuum formed and was filled with people I would say have a love for capitalism. 

This comment is where I think America needs to return to in its positions on business and freedom.

"Estonia has also paid close attention to the fundamentals of establishing a favorable business environment: reducing and simplifying taxes, and making it easy and cheap to build companies."

 In America our states were the incubators of new ideas and if something worked (or didn't) other states would follow.  Since the imposition of the Federal Government mandates as somehow allowed under the "Commerce Clause" of the US Constitution, we have seen a "one size fits all" rash of laws and regulations forcing a Mao suit on the whole country.

If Europe and America are to return to the robust countries of the past to preserve their futures, maybe a real hard look at what is working in the little incubator of Estonia is in order.