Fidesz, led by the mediagenic Viktor Orban, has won a sensational 67.9 percent of the vote in the final round national election. The party that started as a libertarian protest twenty years ago (see post, April 12) is now fully in control, with 263 out of 386 seats in Parliament. It crushed the incumbent Socialists (15.3 percent) and destroyed the dreams of the far right Jobbik (12.2 percent), not to mention the Greens (4.2 percent).
Fidesz promised tax cuts and ends to little tyrannies--such as the prohibition of home distilleries that make the beloved plum brandies of Central Europe--and, more ominously, an end to the confinements of fiscal discipline imposed--responsibly-- by the Socialists.
All of Europe needs tax reductions and encouragement of investment. (So does the U.S). But it cannot avoid simultaneously a reduction in spending. To the extent that Americans notice, Fidesz will warm conservatives' hearts. But what about the spending? That's what could chill those same hearts in the years ahead. Even a Government with a mandate cannot flout the problems of a massive debt.
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