The European project began at the end of the World’s most devastating war because Germany (with the support of France) wanted to put its past behind it. Now an age of austerity is being inscribed into the foundation of a European super-state because Germany (with the support of France) wishes to put its future first. Fiscal […]
Posts Tagged ‘Eurozone’
Is this the end of the European project: German hegemony in an age of austerity?
Dec 12th, 2011 by Jon Lansman.
Cameron marginalises Britain for no gain at all
Dec 11th, 2011 by Michael Meacher.It is almost surreal that Cameron exercised his veto when (i) there had been no serious or detailed examination of EU financial services regulation at the point when he did so, (ii) financial services regulation was not a central issue on the agenda at all, and (iii) there had been no discussion on the real […]
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Standard & Poor’s is right, ‘austerity’ has no economic clothes
Dec 8th, 2011 by Ann Pettifor.So European politicians want to shoot the messengers? Sure, ratings agencies haven’t always been reliable, decent or honest. And sure, like Eurozone politicians Standard & Poor is just following events, not shaping them. But on this occasion S&P’s analysis, if not their solution, is right. Credit Crunch 2.0 is fast accelerating and squeezing life out of […]
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Not much grand about this EU bargain
Dec 8th, 2011 by Michael Meacher.The praeternatural calm that has descended on the financial markets after Merkel-Sarkozy declared a ‘comprehensive’ bargain on Monday is unlikely to survive the Friday summit as the details sink in about what is involved, and even more about what is left out. Meanwhile back in Britain there is sound and fury from the Tory Right […]
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The cost of Frau Merkel
Dec 5th, 2011 by Michael Meacher.There are basically two ways to resolve the Euro conundrum. One is the provision of Eurobonds, jointly provided by all the Eurozone members, to underwrite the debts of those Euro countries that get into big trouble through lack of competitiveness or for any other reason. The problem with this is that the Germans, now in […]
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The temporary popularity of Euroausterity
Nov 22nd, 2011 by David Osler.Just months ago, Spain was convulsed by the M-15 mass movement, which mobilised hundreds of thousands of protestors against the appalling privations facing the nation’s youth. Last weekend, it returned a centre-right government. That’s not the whole story. The hard left alliance Izquierda Unida doubled its vote to poll 7%, although that is still well […]
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The terrifying intentions of Eurozone technocrats
Nov 22nd, 2011 by Ann Pettifor.As the world economy fails to recover, and instead threatens to implode we are now witness to political and social developments in Europe that are deeply alarming, even if inevitable. It is important that we understand and prepare for the implications of recent events. The good news is that both politicians and official policymakers at […]
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The disconnect of politics from the reality out there
Nov 11th, 2011 by Michael Meacher.It is almost incredible how the perfect storm is coming together from so many sources at the same time. The near-bankruptcy of the Italian economy could bring down the Eurozone. Yesterday’s official down-grading of growth in the EU to no more than 0.5% a year, and even of Germany to only 1% a year, heralds […]
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The second global banking crash
Nov 7th, 2011 by Michael Meacher.The EU sovereign debt crisis is not primarily about the 17 countries that constitute the Eurozone, it’s about the intertwined European banks’ exposure to a mountain of speculative lending in high-risk countries that could never have survived German competitiveness within a single currency. The UK is equally at fault here even though not itself a […]
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EU: out of danger zone, still in intensive care
Oct 27th, 2011 by Michael Meacher.Some of the essential urgent components have now been put in place at last night’s Brussels summit, so that the Eurozone is safe for at least a few months ahead. But this was dealing with the immediate symptoms. The underlying structural flaws remain. The main one is that the Eurozone was always built on the […]
