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Becoming Europe: Economic Decline, Culture, and How America Can Avoid a European Future
"We’re becoming like Europe.” This expression captures many Americans’ sense that something has changed in American economic life since the Great Recession’s onset in 2008: that an economy once characterized by commitments to economic liberty, rule of law, limited government, and personal responsibility has drifted in a distinctly "European” direction.
Americans see, across the Atlantic, European economies faltering under enormous debt; overburdened welfare states; governments controlling close to fifty percent of the economy; high taxation; heavily regulated labor markets; aging populations; and large numbers of public-sector workers. They also see a European political class seemingly unable—and, in some cases, unwilling—to implement economic reform, and seemingly more concerned with preserving its own privileges. Looking at their own society, Americans are increasingly asking themselves: "Is this our future?”
In Becoming Europe, Samuel Gregg examines economic culture—the values and institutions that inform our economic priorities—to explain how European economic life has drifted in the direction of what Alexis de Tocqueville called "soft despotism,” and the ways in which similar trends are manifesting themselves in the United States. America, Gregg argues, is not yet Europe; the good news is that economic decline need not be its future. The path to recovery lies in the distinctiveness of American economic culture. Yet there are ominous signs that some of the cultural foundations of America’s historically unparalleled economic success are being corroded in ways that are not easily reversible—and the European experience should serve as the proverbial canary in the coal mine.
Americans see, across the Atlantic, European economies faltering under enormous debt; overburdened welfare states; governments controlling close to fifty percent of the economy; high taxation; heavily regulated labor markets; aging populations; and large numbers of public-sector workers. They also see a European political class seemingly unable—and, in some cases, unwilling—to implement economic reform, and seemingly more concerned with preserving its own privileges. Looking at their own society, Americans are increasingly asking themselves: "Is this our future?”
In Becoming Europe, Samuel Gregg examines economic culture—the values and institutions that inform our economic priorities—to explain how European economic life has drifted in the direction of what Alexis de Tocqueville called "soft despotism,” and the ways in which similar trends are manifesting themselves in the United States. America, Gregg argues, is not yet Europe; the good news is that economic decline need not be its future. The path to recovery lies in the distinctiveness of American economic culture. Yet there are ominous signs that some of the cultural foundations of America’s historically unparalleled economic success are being corroded in ways that are not easily reversible—and the European experience should serve as the proverbial canary in the coal mine.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published November 13, 2012
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About the author
Samuel Gregg
58 books36 followersDr. Samuel Gregg has a D.Phil. in moral philosophy and political economy from Oxford University, and an M.A. in political philosophy from the University of Melbourne.
He has written and spoken extensively on questions of political economy, economic history, monetary theory and policy, and natural law theory.
In 2001, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, and a Member of the Mont Pèlerin Society in 2004. In 2008, he was elected a member of the Philadelphia Society, and a member of the Royal Economic Society. In 2017, he was made a Fellow of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University. He served as President of the Philadelphia Society from 2019-2021.
He has written and spoken extensively on questions of political economy, economic history, monetary theory and policy, and natural law theory.
In 2001, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, and a Member of the Mont Pèlerin Society in 2004. In 2008, he was elected a member of the Philadelphia Society, and a member of the Royal Economic Society. In 2017, he was made a Fellow of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University. He served as President of the Philadelphia Society from 2019-2021.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 15, 2023
Samuel Gregg’s “Becoming Europe” is a disquieting overview of Europe, and a clear warning to an America that seems to be traveling a parallel path. And policies will not likely soon change. As Gregg rightly notes, it was Tocqueville who convincingly argued that moral-cultural habits are the determinative factor when seeking to understand any community. Today both Europeans and Americans have no compunction when it comes to living beyond their means. When Mr. Gregg’s book went to press, European and American governments held debt which exceeded 70% of GDP. As Herb Stein said,“If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.” Clearly, both Europeans and Americans need a change of attitude.
The claim that European social welfare states occupy the moral high ground is fallacious. As Hayek wrote, “ The history of government management of money has, except for a few short happy periods, been one of incessant fraud and deception.” American observers would do well to challenge the idea that the deficits, debt and coercion will somehow yield fairness.
Gregg, who is an affiliate scholar at the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, draws on a variety of thinkers to stress that we must present the moral case for wealth creation over forced wealth redistribution. Freedom is a prerequisite for moral agency—and only freedom and moral agency bring human flourishing. As Lorenz Kraus noted, Mises understood that capital goods could not be redistributed; in short, “the redistribution of wealth, if taken seriously, necessarily means the …utter destruction of wealth. Socialism is nihilism, the destruction of values.”
This book is an ominous portent.When we look at the Europe Gregg presents, we should ask ourselves: "Is this our future?” Is this the future we seek?
The claim that European social welfare states occupy the moral high ground is fallacious. As Hayek wrote, “ The history of government management of money has, except for a few short happy periods, been one of incessant fraud and deception.” American observers would do well to challenge the idea that the deficits, debt and coercion will somehow yield fairness.
Gregg, who is an affiliate scholar at the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, draws on a variety of thinkers to stress that we must present the moral case for wealth creation over forced wealth redistribution. Freedom is a prerequisite for moral agency—and only freedom and moral agency bring human flourishing. As Lorenz Kraus noted, Mises understood that capital goods could not be redistributed; in short, “the redistribution of wealth, if taken seriously, necessarily means the …utter destruction of wealth. Socialism is nihilism, the destruction of values.”
This book is an ominous portent.When we look at the Europe Gregg presents, we should ask ourselves: "Is this our future?” Is this the future we seek?
August 14, 2017
A must read for anyone interested in how free market economics vs. Keynesian/neoliberal economics (along with their respective cultural attitudes) play out in the real world.
April 2, 2013
Thoughtful and accessible. Even if you're not an economist or scholar, you will find much food for thought here.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews