Anxiety and social models

Article from Truthout.org, which is actually a translation of a piece from Le Monde.

So there are 4 social models:

• the Continental one, ineffective and equitable (heavy social spending, very limited lay-offs and generous unemployment benefits)
  
• the Mediterranean one, ineffective and inequitable (heavy spending, limited lay-offs, but weak compensation)
  
• the Anglo-Saxon one, effective and inequitable (weak unions, a wide salary range, social protection limited to a minimum)
  
• the Nordic one, effective and equitable (high level of social spending, strong unions, narrow salary range, freedom to fire but strong compensation for unemployed persons)

And the author to conclude:

• Equity has a price. There's no solidarity without social transfers
• Effectiveness is not dependent on the level of taxes
• Ineffective systems cannot endure

Countries have the choice between two effective models, neither of which signifies "the end of the social contract" as political demagogues claim. The reverse is true: immobility will not allow us to defend the benefits already gained and will end up imperiling the single market and the Euro.

In the absence of dynamism in Continental or Mediterranean countries, it is ever-larger layers of the middle class that will fall under the growing pressure of globalization. France and the United States are two different models, but both create the same social anxiety.

Models are important to me because they define the framework in which people will have to operate in order to make the best out of their life. And they don't control the framework (except by cheating or by electing other leaders who would change it).
It is important to give the tools to the people so they can thrive and not end up in a dead end.

The problem with people is that they are afraid of what they don't know or understand. And if a new framework doesn't seem to work, they want to run back to the old one.

Sometimes changes can happen only through major crisis, and this is valid for any non performing model.