If we follow the same game plan why would we exspect a different result?

Wouldn’t be nice if you could try out political or economic theories before applying then to your country?

Amazingly enough we actually have a good test run of the Obama economic experiment right down to the one word campaign slogan of “change”. Where was the pre Obama socialist experiment conducted? Check out the Greek elections of 1981.

In 1981 Andreas Papandreou was swept into power as Prime Minister of Greece along with his socialist PASOK movement. At the time of his election the Greek debt to GDP ratio stood at 28%, a figure envied by most of the free world. By the end of Andreas second term it had ballooned to over 80%. It was a rate of government expansion so large and so fast reaching every corner of Greek society that in the end it actually changed a whole countries idea about the proper role of government.

Starting with government health care, huge increases in the number of federal public employees, takeovers of failing private industries, and numerous new government hand outs, Papandreou inserted government in every corner of Greek life. The similarities to our current US President are amazing and tragic.

In one generation Greece went from a country with a rich and proud tradition of self reliance to people rioting in the streets to maintain their government’s giveaways.

And even with the huge increase in government spending the government has proven once again the failure of large government to deliver, as Napoleon Linardatos wrote in the National Review “The Greek government employs lots of people, even by European standards; the increase in unemployment since the crisis started has come exclusively from the private sector. Finland may have the best educational system in Europe, but its ratio of students to teachers is double that of Greece, which has one of the worst educational systems. In area after area of governmental activity, Greece has the most people employed per population but also the worst results: a way-above-average number of tax collectors but very poor tax collection; an above-average number of policemen but dismal public order; a record number of local courts but perhaps the slowest justice system on the continent; a record number of hospitals but one of the worst systems of health care.”

Now Greece finds itself with a GPD to debt ratio over 140% and rising. With its only hope to remain afloat being bailouts from the European Union. The present Greek government finds itself attempting to drastically cut un-sustainable spending while facing mobs and riots by Greek citizens for their efforts. 25% of the population is employed by the government, and large minorities of the rest of the citizens are dependent on one government program or another or employed by failed government owned companies. The Greeks have become addicted to a living based on tax dollars and to many their solution to the crisis is an Obama like “tax the rich”.

The Obama play book looks to be ripped out of the failed policy manual of the Greek socialist. Maybe in 2012 we should try a different path.