BRITAIN

BRITAIN

The Observer, London, Dec. 28: The sight of queues of people waiting for shops to open after Christmas — thousands strong at some shopping centres — will hearten retailers who fear their very existence is imperilled by the credit crunch.

But even the most optimistic forecasts indicate that times will get tougher for most people in 2009 before a recovery comes into sight. So there is something peculiar, unreal even, in images of avid shoppers bingeing on bargains after a period of enforced abstinence. It is possible that they are motivated by patriotic duty, reluctantly forcing themselves to spend for the greater good of the national economy.

Political problem

Of course, if everyone stopped shopping completely, the economy would be in even more serious trouble. But it is an awkward state of affairs when, in order to avert further catastrophe, we need — for a time being at least — to engage in just the sort of behaviour that got us into trouble in the first place. That is not just a neat paradox for economists to contemplate — it is a political problem.

We have borrowed too much and saved too little. Now that the credit has dried up, the government is borrowing more to keep the economy liquid. Inevitably, that means at some point the government will have to restrain spending and raise taxes to get the national finances on track. But not, Mr. Brown hopes, before the next election.

DENMARK

Politiken, Copenhagen, Dec. 31: Until now, the early phases of global economic crisis have mainly been met as an economic challenge. It actually is amazing how small a part politics and ideology has played.

The U.S. Congress’ stunning rejection of the first large rescue package was reversed after a few days. But there has been no real political or ideological debate on the crisis.

Rescue

The general picture is that both the right and the left wings have thrown ideology and politics overboard, and instead have focused on rescuing what can be rescued.

The right wing has abandoned its policy of shielding banks and other major companies from whole or partial government takeovers. The left has conceded that it would be too costly for society to let capitalism go it alone.

It is hard to believe it will continue that way.

When the crisis starts to hurt in 2009 with rising unemployment and less money to be spread around, the political impact will also be felt.

For good and bad.

ISRAEL

Jerusalem Post, Dec. 30: On day four of Operation Cast Lead, international demands notwithstanding, it is way too premature for Jerusalem to be entertaining thoughts of a cease-fire. It is Hamas that needs an exit strategy to extricate it from a devastating situation of its own making.

Hamas must not get what it most wants. Hamas wants Israel’s home front to be demoralized, to feel under siege. It wants to stampede our government into sending ground forces into Gaza’s camps and alleyways, to ensnare our fighters in ambushes it has spent long months setting.

‘Moral victory’

If Hamas can’t hoodwink Israelis into self-defeating policies, it is counting on pressure from within Israel or without to produce at least a temporary halt to the operation, during which it could regroup, or better yet a cease-fire. It needs this to claim a “moral victory” over the IDF; to demonstrate that the West has no response but appeasement to violent Muslim extremism. Finally, Hamas needs a cease-fire on its terms, or it will lose face vis-a-vis Mahmoud Abbas.