Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1062629
15 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 16 DECEMBER 2018 NEWS ANALYSIS stronger together. 4. Malta is a showcase for European progressives "We have the best perform- ing economy which is run by progressives… We have ar- rived at a fiscal surplus with no austerity" – "Economic growth and responsibility do stand together side by side." Muscat is more than justified to flaunt his greatest political achievement – that of sparing Malta from the kind of auster- ity, which has ravished entire communities in Europe, mak- ing them fodder for populism. And Muscat did this while still achieving high rates of eco- nomic growth and a budget surplus. While other socialist parties talk about increasing taxes to finance social invest- ments or argue for greater fiscal leeway from the EU to give their battered economies some breathing space, Mus- cat has literally managed to square the circle. Muscat is also clear on how he has managed to do what has eluded other socialists on the continent. "We managed to do this by believing in busi- ness and enterprise." What Muscat seems to con- veniently ignore is that Malta benefits from its competitive advantages as a small island state with a favourable tax re- gime. Moreover, Muscat's eco- nomic success is also inter- linked with a construction boom which is bound to have a greater impact on a small is- land than larger countries. Adopting the Maltese model on matters like citizenship and taxation regimes on a univer- sal scale may well result in a race to the bottom as coun- tries seek to outsmart each other. In short, a dog-eat-dog situation rather than a social- ist paradise. 5. We need to empower people not foster dependency "We should help those who have been left behind not by giving handouts but by mak- ing it easier for them to earn a living by making work pay." Muscat convincingly il- lustrated this by showcasing Malta's universal childcare system, which has empow- ered women to join the labour market. But he ignores one important aspect of socialist ideology, which is that of nar- rowing economic and social inequalities. Muscat believes in social wel- fare as a pass for greater social mobility – not as a way to re- distribute wealth and level in- equalities, ignoring the risks posed to democracy and social cohesion by the emergence of a class of super-rich people. Moreover, a welfare system increasingly dependent on economic growth rather than income redistribution may be vulnerable to the risk of economic contractions. This increasingly makes govern- ments even more depend- ent on big business to sustain growth rates in what increas- ingly looks like an economy on steroids. What Muscat did not say Naturally a 15-minute speech cannot cover all aspects of policy. But the absence of some themes dear to other left-wingers was striking. Completely absent from Muscat's speech was any ref- erence to some of the great- est global challenges like the threat posed by organised crime and corruption, tax avoidance, climate change, global poverty and immigra- tion. Muscat's silence on corrup- tion is understandable in view of the bad reputation he enjoys across Europe on this issue. His silence on immigration was even more striking. Mus- cat did hint in his speech that the commitment for human rights should not preclude so- cialists from addressing prob- lems related to "crime and se- curity". Muscat largely avoided this one issue that is contribut- ing to the great chasm be- tween the European masses and left-wing parties. Perhaps this reflects Muscat's uneasi- ness, something over which he changed his opinions in a more liberal direction. Insulated by Malta's own economic success story, Muscat has so far man- aged to keep the extreme-right at bay. The question is, for how long? jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt from Muscat to Europe's socialists While other socialist parties talk about increasing taxes to finance social investments or argue for greater fiscal leeway from the EU to give their battered economies some breathing space, Muscat has literally managed to square the circle After being heckled by left-wing Portuguese MEP Ana Gomes at the Party of European Socialists conference in Lisbon, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat took the stage to promote his own brand of "progressive disruption" to his audience of counterparts Right-wing populism in Europe is tearing apart centrist parties. Muscat has so far managed to keep the extreme-right at bay. The question is, for how long?