Europe’s Voters Wisely Stick With Frugal Leaders

Sept. 30 (Bloomberg) -- For the last three years, theAnglo-American and south European news media have presentedGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel as the scourge of the recession.But on Sept. 22, she won an overwhelming victory in Germany’sparliamentary elections. Her Christian Democratic Union obtained41.5 percent of the votes cast, its best result since 1990, fiveseats short of a majority in the Bundestag.

Her success should give us pause to reconsider what hashappened in Europe since the global financial crisis erupted inSeptember 2008. Contrary to what most of our loud commentariatwould have us believe, “austerity” or fiscal responsibility isapparently popular. Merkel’s success shows what has been wrongin so much of the public debate about the global financialcrisis.