Brussels, 12/05/2014 (Agence Europe) - “Right-wing governments in Europe have had lower debt levels and fiscal balances on average than their left-wing counterparts since the turn of the century,” said German economic studies institute IFO on Monday 12 May in research described as purely descriptive.
The study takes as its starting point a comment made by the European People's Party (EPP) candidate to become the next president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker (of Luxembourg) that when one looks at a map of Europe, one sees that economic indicators are better in countries with right-wing governments.
Niklas Potrafke, head of the IFO Centre for Public Finance and Political Economy, commented: “Left-wing and right-wing governments in industrialised economies have pursued virtually identical economic policies since the end of the Cold War. So it is interesting to note that differences in the financial policies of left-wing and right-wing governments have emerged in recent years.” The crisis may mark a turning point here.
The figures from 2013 illustrate, however, that average public debt for left-wing countries stands at 60.6% of GDP, and the debt of right-wing countries at 70.4%. IFO points out that public debt has been piling up for many years now and there have been recent changes between left and right in countries like Greece, where public debt now stands at 170% of GDP. IFO adds: “There were no differences in growth, and only minor differences in unemployment rates and the primary balance of the budget.” (EL)