Anti-incumbency wave in Europe 

(MENAFN - Arab News) One after another the European governments are tumbling under anti-incumbency, anti-austerity and anti-Euro sentiments.

Nikolas Sarkozy lost not because he was less popular than Francois Hollande but because many were tired of the distressed economy, while also realizing that Hollande doesn't have any magic wand to fix the crisis. The results in both Greece and France show that people have no appetite for any more austerity measures. The good old days of fewer working hours, early retirements, and outsourcing are over - either accept lower living standards or generate that much sufficient wealth to spend - you can't consume what you do not create!

There have to be more stringent oversights and regulations for both financial and banking institutions, for they have been primarily responsible for creating credit bubbles, which spread so much malaise, and created culture of easy money without support of tangible assets. Levying super-tax on the wealthy is not the panacea for fiscal and monetary ills built over the years. We all agree that in most countries the rich have failed to contribute an appropriate share of the tax burden, so all tax evasive schemes have to be plugged. There is an impression that government jobs are cushy, secured - whether one performs or not, and with several holidays. This culture is part of the global economic problems i.e. inefficient use and waste of public monies and country's natural resources.