"Cowboy' Economics.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)

Europe: Germany's Gerhard Schroeder wants to accelerate tax cuts to get his nation's economy going again. Sounds eerily familiar, doesn't it?

The German economy has had a rough three years. It's basically not growing, as the chart shows, and joblessness is back over 10%.

That's why Schroeder -- who downplayed German economic woes to instead bash America during the 2002 campaign -- decided to step up $28.5 billion in earlier promised tax cuts.

Pardon us, but that sounds suspiciously like Bushonomics - you know, the economic policy of the American "cowboy" whom Schroeder and others on the European Continent like to ridicule.

It must be embarrassing for Germany to take a page from Bush's supply-side book. But it's about time.

Germany's relief -- the top rate will be cut from 48.5% to 42%, the bottom rate from 19.9% to 15% -- will give the economy a boost.

For an average worker making $34,000, the federal tax will drop 27%. Even someone earning $170,000 will see a hefty 11% tax cut, the government estimates.