Many thought this was a joke and it couldn't be the real president of Estonia, but sure enough, it was, and he went on Twitter and chewed on der Krugmeister:

https://twitter.com/#!/IlvesToomas

He appears to get it, as evidenced by this piece:

http://www.hoover.org/publications/polic....

Quote:

In translation, if you didn’t get it: What we Easterners call not living beyond our means is not as important as putting on “offer a broader political project, capable of giving hope of a better future.” Don’t create real value, borrow instead; cook the books, lie to Eurostat, live off others’ frugality. It is justified in the name of a “better future.” This is the kind of talk we heard in Eastern Europe for fifty years. To justify oppressing their subjugated subjects and their own privileged lives, communists spoke constantly of the Radiant Future as a political project . . . capable of giving hope of a better future. This radiant future, this hope, alas, was always receding. It wasn’t the communists’ fault, though, that it didn’t arrive; it was the fault of communism’s “five enemies”: the four seasons, and international imperialism. Or saboteurs. Or bourgeois remnants. Following the same (il)logic, it is today we, the East Europeans, who are to blame for the borrowing policies of some older member states.

As a child I would watch on my refugee parents’ second-hand black-and-white tv reruns of Popeye, a World War II-era American cartoon whose primary message seemed to be that eating spinach made you strong. One supporting character, Wimpy, was a pot-bellied sad-sack whose only line, repeated from cartoon to cartoon, sums up the attitude that led us in Europe to where we are today: “I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.”

Oops, CIA is gonna have to order up some drones over Estonia now that there is a "tarrist" running loose tweeting "threats" about our Nobel Prize winning tranny porn watching midget economist and the debt merchants pet***** pot, The Euronil.

Ahhhh, what does this guy know, he only runs a country, right Paulie?

Quote:

As a child I would watch on my refugee parents’ second-hand black-and-white tv reruns of Popeye, a World War II-era American cartoon whose primary message seemed to be that eating spinach made you strong. One supporting character, Wimpy, was a pot-bellied sad-sack whose only line, repeated from cartoon to cartoon, sums up the attitude that led us in Europe to where we are today: “I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.”

The Prez effin pwned Krugman with that one!

If we're gonna have a foreign born President, I vote that it be this guy!

Paul "Wimpy" Krugman

Yeah, import him, export Krugman please.

The Soviet Union's burial, without so much as a 21-gun salute, should have been instructive. And it was, to all but the congenitally stupid. A.k.a. the West's PTB.

Brilliant.

wow. Great read.

Very perceptive. Quite astute.

Thanks for posting the link to the entire piece - truly a well-written, no-holds-barred exposition of some really big picture issues involving the EU, the Eurozone, and other matters.

Toomas Hendrik Ilves demonstrates that he's really a serious, deep thinker with a great grasp of the context in which things in Europe are unfolding. Based just on this article, compared to him, our politicians/leaders are like kiddies playing in a sandbox, IMO.

How tweet is that?

Estonia has their **** together. First started researching them after googling the singer Kerli, trust me on this one google image search her, and wanted to move their immediately lol. Wonder how they feel about red heads named Eric? Lol

I had a diatribe but I let it go...

I just looked Ilves up. He was born in Sweden to Estonian refugees (from the Soviets, of course), and grew up here in the States in Leonia, NJ. He was valedictorian in high school there and went on to Columbia. He then worked for Radio Free Europe, and took diplomatic posts after Estonian independence.

That explains his command of English, and non-elite English at that ("chill" and "ya'll" -- I didn't know they used that in Joisey, but he did pick it up).

"Yeah, import him, export Krugman please."

Mrbill, what is that you want to punish the Estonians for? What is their crime against you?

"Oops, CIA is gonna have to order up some drones over Estonia now that there is a "tarrist" running loose tweeting "threats" about our Nobel Prize winning tranny porn watching midget economist and the debt merchants pet***** pot, The Euronil."

Funny that... There is a number of Estonians accusing their president of misplaced loyalties, or even being a CIA plant - due to the fact that he grew up in the US.

Like many here, he fell into the wasting of his time trap for the likes of Krugman. Krugman should be ignored and his name never muttered again in any circles as he is an obvious Baghdad Bobesque troll for the establishment.

You know, it never occurred to me that "better future" was such a communist construct until I read Ilves saying it. But now I recall hearing this in Hungary all the time when I was growing up there in the 80s. We even had songs about the "more beautiful future". Of course it was all bull****. This was the way the commies tried to justify the hardships. Of course this didn't work nearly as well as religion's method, that they tried to exterminate: the promise of a better afterlife.

Jonx -

I disagree. Although Krugman is a lying shill (I won't call him stupid, as tempting as that is), he is a powerful/influential messenger for the POV that would (intentionally or not) destroy any hope for the establishment of a sound economic system. Ignoring, rather than discrediting his views via logical argument, leaves him in a very influential position, and would work against the goal of actually fixing things.

Fer shizzle. Nice skull****ing of Krugman.

Obseedian -

The "better future" construct is a good one, as most people can, and actually do, personally relate to it. Don't we all work hard/sacrifice to provide a "better future" for our kids, or work hard to go on vacation in the future, etc., etc.?

Propaganda 101: The more personal the message is to the recipient, the greater the likelihood that it will influence his thinking.

Example: Why does Obama talk jobs to workers and student loans to students, rather than vice-versa?

Heffalump: Ha! Good point. I think I'd be happy exporting Krugman anywhere. The moon would be fine. Alpha Centauri would be better.

Peterm99

Yeah, it's good but after a number of years people realize it's a scam if things don't get any better. Whereas the promise of a better afterlife is brilliant as it is non-disprovable. Had the commies embraced religion, the Iron Curtain and the Wall would still be standing.

His closing is powerful-Quote:

Estonia, I firmly believe, should not only do its part, it should be one of the more understanding countries regarding others with difficulties. Solidarity, after all, was what we were denied in 1940, and our belief in the need for European solidarity is what lies at the core of the Estonian belief in Europe. But for it to work — in Estonia, in Poland, in the other “new countries” who have been eu members long enough to be taken seriously — we need an end to categories that bear no relation to reality. Indeed, we should be among those in the forefront explaining that unless Europe understands responsibility there will be no solidarity, that there is no possibility any longer to promise to pay anyone Tuesday for a hamburger today.

Note: not only does he describe the effectual stand that the NB-6 (Nordic Baltic-6) have taken regarding a shared frugality, and lived within their means--which is in their commitment to survive. These people are all about survival. (Not to mention the fact that 67% of the population of Latvia was killed during WWII) This is not about paying for burgers, as it is about being accountable to what one takes, and gives, and allows for the whole of it's people to return to a state of normalcy. )

Also, a thought, the President of Estonia has to have a clear voice right now, in light of what is going on with the ruble, and the concerns of the tensions along the Syrian, Russian border. The want the solidarity that they earned and fought for with the EU.

"Estonia has the lowest ratio of government debt to GDP among EU countries as 6.7 percent at the end of 2010. The world media has lately started to describe Estonia as a Nordic country, emphasizing the economic, political and cultural differences between Estonia and its less successful Baltic neighbors.[112]

A balanced budget, almost non-existent public debt, flat-rate income tax, free trade regime, competitive commercial banking sector, innovative e-Services and even mobile-based services are all hallmarks of Estonia's market economy."

In 1994, based on the economic theories of Milton Friedman, Estonia became one of the first countries to adopt a flat tax, with a uniform rate of 26% regardless of personal income. In January 2005, the personal income tax rate was reduced to 24%. Another reduction to 23% followed in January 2006. The income tax rate was decreased to 21% by January 2008. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estonia#His....

Although Friedman never visited Estonia, his book Free to Choose exercised a great influence on that nation's then 32-year-old prime minister, Mart Laar, who has claimed that it was the only book on economics he had read before taking office. Laar's reforms are often credited with responsibility for transforming Estonia from an impoverished Soviet Republic to the "Baltic Tiger." A prime element of Laar's program was introduction of the flat tax. Laar won the 2006 Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty, awarded by the Cato Institute . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_Frie....

Quote:

Laar won the 2006 Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty, awarded by the Cato Institute .

Cato fail.

Milton Friedman, father of the automatic withholding tax: http://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/roth....

http://mises.org/daily/1797