A Small Victory

The real victor in this summer’s Portuguese elections was perhaps not just Anibal Cavaco Silva and his Social Democratic Party, but the entire Portuguese economy. Political labels are sometimes very deceptive. In Northern Europe and in the Slavic world the Social Democrats are, at least originally, Marxist. (The October Revolution in Russia was carried out by the radical wing of the Social Democratic Workers’ Party, which only in the following year began to call itself Communist.) But Cavaco Silva is a free-market economist, and he has proved his ability to put his theories into practice.

Portugal, the most underdeveloped country in Western Europe, with the highest illiteracy rate, has been beset by grave problems ever since it spearheaded our century’s march away from traditional, monarchical government. In 1910 its monarchy fell, and revolution followed upon revolution, leading finally to military dictatorship. By 1926, Portugal’s finances had gone to pieces, and radical economic reform became necessary. So the military invited Antonio de Oliveira Salazar, a highly intelligent, very serious, deeply devout and celibate economics professor at the University of Coimbra, to straighten out the financial chaos.

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Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn

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The real victor in this summer’s Portuguese elections was perhaps not just Anibal Cavaco Silva and his Social Democratic Party, but the entire Portuguese economy. Political labels are sometimes very deceptive. In Northern Europe and in the Slavic world the Social Democrats are, at least originally, Marxist. (The October Revolution in Russia was carried out by the radical wing of the Social Democratic Workers’ Party, which only in the following year began to call itself Communist.) But Cavaco Silva is a free-market economist, and he has proved his ability to put his theories into practice.

Portugal, the most underdeveloped country in Western Europe, with the highest illiteracy rate, has been beset by grave problems ever since it spearheaded our century’s march away from traditional, monarchical government. In 1910 its monarchy fell, and revolution followed upon revolution, leading finally to military dictatorship. By 1926, Portugal’s finances had gone to pieces, and radical economic reform became necessary. So the military invited Antonio de Oliveira Salazar, a highly intelligent, very serious, deeply devout and celibate economics professor at the University of Coimbra, to straighten out the financial chaos.