The press have been, surprisingly, informative this week. I guess there comes a time when being an apparatchik has to be rescinded in the face of a true threat to a way of life.
Some excellent articles, and studies – Institute of Fiscal Studies – point to the absence of any mention of the measures that will need to be introduced in order to cut the British deficit… a deficit that the spineless in Westminster dare not discuss: Labour for reasons of not wanting to jeopardize electoral success by admitting to the mess that has been created, Conservative for fear of being associated with the privileged that have been allowed to create the mess, Liberal Democrat for understanding that all three main parties come from pretty much the same pot these days, with all having spoons in the ingredients that have produced the gruel. Why are the public not given outlook figures for the next few years – because it would cause panic, and probably capital flight… for those fortunate enough to have such capital.
The Euro: This whole European unity thing – nobody likes each other, and are only in it for the money. Too many years of bickering, and public disgust at not having any say in how the realpolitik act on the citizen’s behalf, have all but destroyed public confidence in what was once, a public want, but now regarded as an imposition. Lisbon Treaty anyone…
Greece bailout – probably only happened because the Euro was slumping, and so there was never going to be an eviction of a member state, thus crippling the solvent nations keeping it all together. Can you imagine how the world would react if they saw that the supposedly wealthy Europe could not pay the checks?!
It was rather amusing to see the European heads of state all slapping themselves on the back and smiling for the cameras, but we know ‘Merk’ wasn’t too happy, ‘Sarko’ was sweating at the possibility of pas-fraternité, and the thousand or so commissioners in Brussels were worried about the possibility of the gravy train heading for derailment.
Within hours of the ‘accord’ ‘Merk’ was making it clear that Germany would retain the right to veto, should Greece step out of line as it tried to help itself first with budget cuts, or any deviation from repayment schedules should it accept the loan that is being offered. Loan sharks come to mind. The German central bank promptly added that the majority of any loan must come from the IMF. Next thing we hear is that European Central Bank stated that IMF intervention on any scale would be 'a very, very bad thing'. Not sure if anyone is aware, but the IMF was pretty much irrelevant 15-20 years ago, when compared to its size/reserves and relevance today in helping out. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen structural adjustments proposed by the IMF, World Bank etc that did not have a fairly devastating effect upon the everyday person who, living in the affected country, was not the cause of the problem as they did not have other people’s money to gamble with. I keep thinking of Bretton Woods, for various reasons.
Finally, and considering the ‘help’ proffered to Greece, stumbled upon this little snippet – a very interesting read.
http://openeuropeblog.blogspot.com/2...in-action.html
Some excellent articles, and studies – Institute of Fiscal Studies – point to the absence of any mention of the measures that will need to be introduced in order to cut the British deficit… a deficit that the spineless in Westminster dare not discuss: Labour for reasons of not wanting to jeopardize electoral success by admitting to the mess that has been created, Conservative for fear of being associated with the privileged that have been allowed to create the mess, Liberal Democrat for understanding that all three main parties come from pretty much the same pot these days, with all having spoons in the ingredients that have produced the gruel. Why are the public not given outlook figures for the next few years – because it would cause panic, and probably capital flight… for those fortunate enough to have such capital.
The Euro: This whole European unity thing – nobody likes each other, and are only in it for the money. Too many years of bickering, and public disgust at not having any say in how the realpolitik act on the citizen’s behalf, have all but destroyed public confidence in what was once, a public want, but now regarded as an imposition. Lisbon Treaty anyone…
Greece bailout – probably only happened because the Euro was slumping, and so there was never going to be an eviction of a member state, thus crippling the solvent nations keeping it all together. Can you imagine how the world would react if they saw that the supposedly wealthy Europe could not pay the checks?!
It was rather amusing to see the European heads of state all slapping themselves on the back and smiling for the cameras, but we know ‘Merk’ wasn’t too happy, ‘Sarko’ was sweating at the possibility of pas-fraternité, and the thousand or so commissioners in Brussels were worried about the possibility of the gravy train heading for derailment.
Within hours of the ‘accord’ ‘Merk’ was making it clear that Germany would retain the right to veto, should Greece step out of line as it tried to help itself first with budget cuts, or any deviation from repayment schedules should it accept the loan that is being offered. Loan sharks come to mind. The German central bank promptly added that the majority of any loan must come from the IMF. Next thing we hear is that European Central Bank stated that IMF intervention on any scale would be 'a very, very bad thing'. Not sure if anyone is aware, but the IMF was pretty much irrelevant 15-20 years ago, when compared to its size/reserves and relevance today in helping out. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen structural adjustments proposed by the IMF, World Bank etc that did not have a fairly devastating effect upon the everyday person who, living in the affected country, was not the cause of the problem as they did not have other people’s money to gamble with. I keep thinking of Bretton Woods, for various reasons.
Finally, and considering the ‘help’ proffered to Greece, stumbled upon this little snippet – a very interesting read.
http://openeuropeblog.blogspot.com/2...in-action.html
Author of: For Pip's Sake! (Available at Amazon... :-) )