Naming and shaming the spendthrifts

The Eurozone financial crisis has triggered an unseemly bout of finger-pointing, much of it almost racist in tone.  German politicians, reflecting domestic public sentiment, have been castigating their profligate southern neighbours; the UK government has been piously telling everyone who will listen that only its unpopular austerity measures have kept the country from a similar fate; the Greeks are accusing the Germans of quasi-revanchist  aggression;  and US business commentators have portrayed the whole of Europe as a socialist midden beyond any hope of salvation.

It's useful, then, to discover that someone has made an effort to rank the fiscal status and outlook of 34 of the world's developed economies. The snappily-titled Sovereign Fiscal Responsibility Index is produced by graduates of Stanford University, in conjunction with something called the Comeback America Initiative, which may not be an affiliate of the Socialist International.

The results are fascinating and quite surprising. No big shock to find that Greece comes 34th out of 34, or that Portugal and Ireland are also near the bottom of the charts.  However, the United States, which despite its own brush with fiscal armageddon last year has still seen fit to lecture Europe incessantly, ranks only 28th -- behind Italy and Spain, among others. Equally surprisingly, Germany ranks only 25th, two places behind France, despite its reputation as the fiscal paragon of Europe. The UK ranks as high as 9th, suggesting that there is at least someone out there who believes George Osborne when he talks about getting the UK's finances back to a sustainable basis.

Top spot is held by resource-rich Australia, while New Zealand is in second place. Considering the dire fiscal straits in which New Zealand found itself less than a generation ago, this is a remarkable turnaround, and may offer at least some solace to those countries that are now trying to claw their way out of the mire.

Two lessons here, I think; one almost metaphysical, and the other more practical. The metaphysical: let him who is without stain cast the first stone.  The practical: if you're going to run a dodgy fiscal policy, it helps if you have a printing press.