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Conference: Public Debts Do Have Limits, We All See It Thanks to Crisis
Tuesday 18 May 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, May 18 (TASR) – The global economic recession is a "lesson " for people everywhere, and many of them have now realised that public debt can be a bottomless pit, according to Professor of Economy at the University of Geneva Victoria Curzon-Price, speaking at an international conference devoted to consolidation of public budgets in Bratislava on Tuesday.
"The welfare state is falling. People can see that reckless spending and needless running into debt is dangerous. It's going to be painful, but we'll have to learn how to live with it," said the professor, who assumes that the main problem lies in the system being supportive towards creation of excessive amounts of money covered by nothing.
Another speaker at the conference, Professor of Sociology at the University of Bonn (Germany) Erich Wedde thinks that higher deficits in individual countries come as a result of excessive regulations introduced by governments.
According to Wedde, politicians now have to make a crucial decision - whether to stick to what they promise in terms of pay rises, increasing pensions and other welfare and social benefits, or to think about the future and make cuts and consolidate public finances.
"Every individual is responsible for his or her actions, which also includes being accountable for making mistakes. Somehow, politicians have some kind of ineffable exception. I've got a feeling that they are in a way not expected to be held accountable for their mistakes," said Barbara Kolm from the Vienna-based F.A. Hayek Foundation in her comments on the common practice of increasing budget deficits. According to her, the role of the state in the economy should definitely be reduced.
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