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| Europe |
| Euro "slowly killing Europe" - say Times of London |
| 2006-10-29 |
| Hat tip: Instapundit. WHILE MOST of the worldÂ’s attention has naturally focused on the catastrophe of Iraq, the nuclear showdown in North Korea and the electoral nemesis approaching for George W. Bush on November 7, it has also been an interesting week in Europe. Obligatory swipe at Bush McChimpyHitlerBurton - check. Hungarians marked the brutal suppression of their democracy by Soviet tanks 50 years ago by rioting against their elected Government. In Italy, the GovernmentÂ’s credit rating was reduced to the same level as BotswanaÂ’s, and Romano Prodi seemed on the verge of losing a vote of confidence, just six months after sweeping his reviled and derided but much smarter predecessor, Silvio Berlusconi, from power. The British Home Secretary welcomed Bulgarians and Romanians into the European Union by restricting their ability to seek jobs. The Iraq invasion, disastrous though it has been, Second obligatory swipe at America - check. may not go down in history as the greatest political blunder of the past decade. That dubious honour will probably belong to an event most people still regard as a triumph: the creation of the euro. What we see today, not only in Italy and Hungary, but also in the other relatively weak economies on the southern and eastern fringes of the EU, is the beginning of the end of the European project. If only. And if the euro project does turn out to be the high-water mark of European unification, then history will judge it a far more important event that anything happening in the Middle East. A little Euro-centered there, ain'tcha, Bub? European history will always judge something that happened in the Europe to be "far more important" than anything happening in the Middle East, short of Ahma-nutcase setting off a nuke. And not even then, if he manages to destroy But what does the euro have to do with the political troubles in Hungary and Italy? And how can I compare the technocratic financial problems connected with the euro to a moral and humanitarian disaster such as Iraq? Third swipe at America by her more "sophisticated" "betters" - check. These two questions have a very clear answer: democratic self-government — or, more precisely, its denial. In Europe? So what else is new? What we see in Eastern and Southern Europe today are the consequences of the EUÂ’s transformation from a union of democratic countries into a sort of supra-national financial empire in which the most important decisions affecting EU citizens are no longer subject to democratic control. Jeebus Cripes on a Crutch! They've actually figured it out! This guy better watch his back for someone menacing from Brussels. (Assuming someone with chocolate is menacing.) In Italy the Government is on the brink of collapse because of Signor ProdiÂ’s insistence on implementing tax increases and budget cuts demanded by JoaquÃn Almunia, the EU Economic Commissioner, under the terms of the Maastricht Treaty. In Hungary, the riots began a month ago because the Prime Minister showed his contempt for democracy by publicly admitting that he had “lied, morning, noon and night” about the tax increases and public spending cuts that he had promised Señor Almunia before a recent election — and after the election was over, he naturally felt that his promises to Brussels were far more important than the ones he had made to Hungarian voters. Hungary is run by Democrats? Who knew? The resulting budget cuts of 7 per cent of GDP over two years would be roughly equivalent in Britain to closing down the entire NHS. Which would be doing your citizens a favor, but I digress.... And Hungary, remember, is being forced to do this to comply with the Maastricht treaty, without even being admitted to the eurozone. Then they're idiots. Oh, wait - we knew that. They're run by the Democrats. There is now almost no chance of Hungary, or any other new European country, being admitted to the euro-zone in the foreseeable future. This was demonstrated over the summer when Lithuania and Estonia was refused permission to join the euro on the flimsiest of grounds. Lucky them. Run like hell, guy, while you still can! This EU decision attracted little attention in Britain but was hugely controversial in Eastern Europe. It effectively meant that the accession countries would continue to have their economic policies set in Brussels and Frankfurt without even being able to enjoy the modest benefits HAH! Benefits to whom, exactly? of using the single currency. Keep your whatever-the-hell currency you use now, guys - you'll be thankful for it when the Euro goes down the tubes. Shortly. The political consequence of this asymmetry of power is growing disillusionment in the East, not only with the EU but even with the concept of parliamentary democracy. Why? Europe hasn't really used parliamentary democracy in years. Can't have the proles messing up things The economic effect of forcing Central Europe to abide by deflationary policies designed for the mature economies of the eurozone Oh, brother. That's a super-polite way of saying they've legislated stuff they can't sustain, and aren't willing to admit it. is the weak demand growth and mass unemployment experienced by the accession countries. This unemployment has been the main driving force behind the huge flow of labour out of Central Europe. And that flood of workers, in turn, has provoked the hostile and ultimately self-defeating rhetoric of the British Government against Bulgarian and Romanian immigrants. At least they seem to want to, you know, work - as opposed to sitting on their asses and getting paid for it. The Maastricht treaty has turned the Eastern Europeans into second-class citizens. Honey, it's turned everybody (except the ruling elite) into second-class citizens - they just haven't noticed it yet. The belated recognition of this fact is starting to have the predictably ugly impact on the politics of EuropeÂ’s eastern periphery. But before getting too indignant about the injustices to Eastern Europe, let us spare a thought for the citizens of old Europe who are privileged to “enjoy” full membership of the eurozone. You'll forgive me if I spare a The latest budgetary crisis in Italy may well be averted and the Prodi Government will probably survive for a few more months. But as Signor ProdiÂ’s huge tax increases begin to bite, the Italian economy is almost certain to sink back into recession. Damn, Italy's run by the Democrats too! Howie does get around, don't he? But don't worry - he has a plan. The same one he uses in America - blame Bush. Moreover, there will be no chance of Italy tackling any of its real economic problems once unemployment starts rising next year. Honey, it's Italy - where the whole country goes on "strike" the first warm day and heads to the beach. They didn't have a chance anyway. What Italy needs today is competition, privatisation of grossly inefficient state-sponsored utilities, deregulation of the financial system and changes in labour laws. Such reforms can be hard to implement even in a booming economy. In a stagnant or declining one, they will become impossible. Particularly with Democrats in charge. To make matters worse, Italy will be tightening its budget at the same time as Germany implements the biggest tax increases in its modern history — also in deference to the Maastricht Treaty, if not under quite such direct compulsion from the EU. Damn - is there any country the Dems don't run? Besides this one (and they're trying to lie and cheat their way to that, too). These simultaneous fiscal blunders in Italy, Germany and Eastern Europe will almost mean another “lost At some point the people of Europe will realise that there is something rotten in a political system that leaves them forever in the world economyÂ’s slow lane — and which cannot be changed by any democratic process, regardless of how people vote. Naahhhh - they'll just continue to blame Bush - decades after he leaves office. Even after the moslems take over. |
| Posted by:Barbara Skolaut |
| #5 Thanks, #4 Mark - some articles are so inspiring, the lines just write themselves. ;-p (BTW, it ain't mrs.) |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2006-10-29 22:40 |
| #4 LOL. Mrs. Skolaut, has anyone ever told you that you give good inline commentary? |
| Posted by: Mark Z 2006-10-29 21:02 |
| #3 Yep, and capitalism and communism shared the stage for like 80 years. But who is left standing, and who is in the dustbin of history? The only reason that the Euro has gained so much clout with a lot of non-European countries is because it is easier and more efficient to figure prices in Euros than in multiple European currencies. Plus, there is a fair share of anti-Americanism in certain countries' decision to switch to Euros - "sticking it to the Man!". |
| Posted by: Shieldwolf 2006-10-29 18:54 |
| #2 Greenspan was just saying the Dollar and Euro were sharing the stage. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2006-10-29 16:52 |
| #1 European central banks still have large reserves of their old currencies. The Euro has caused major inflation with goods doubling in prices when the Euro was introduced. Then europeans are paying in euro's and their salaries are still payed at the same levels of their old currency. |
| Posted by: Chomomp Tharong7939 2006-10-29 16:16 |