em de-talhe

PORTUGAL, VISTO LÁ FORA

Cedido por cortesia de um amigo

«Artigo de Michael A. Weinstein, professor da ciência política na universidade de Purdue, em Indiana nos States. É autor de 21 livros e de numerosos artigos académicos e de análise nos campos da ciência política geral e da teoria política. É analista do Power and Interest news Report.

Para rir:

In the all-important economic sphere, Santana Lopes strayed from the neo-liberal path by proposing to cut the family tax, which mostly impacts the middle class, and to raise wages and pensions for public employees. His plans evoked public opposition from his Finance Minister Antonio Bogo Felix who represented the sentiments of Portugal's financial and business communities. Both Bogo Felix and Portugal's central bank warned that the tax cuts and wage hikes would compound the country's deficit problems, causing greater friction with the E.U. and dampening the already poor investment climate.

Para chorar:

The disconnect between Socrates' vision and Portugal's reality is a symptom of the severe weakness of the country's economy that places strict limits upon the ability of any government -- whether left or right -- to generate renewal. There is a distinct possibility that Portugal is poised to become the first failure of the European experiment, posing embarrassing decisions ahead for the E.U. as it attempts to maintain its standards and preserve its integrity».