As far as I can understand the “strategy” of the EU, it is now to prepare for Greece to leave the single currency. Not that the Greeks themselves are anything like psychologically ready to quit: the politicians are punch-drunk, exhausted, and appalled at the loss of face and loss of security that would go with a sundering from “Europe”. Most voters choose pro-euro parties. But money is being withdrawn from banks; events are gathering momentum; and it is clear from their remarks that other EU leaders are getting ready for an outcome which until recently was held to be impolite to mention: the Grexit.
And then what? And then the strategy would appear to be to cauterise the amputation; to circle the wagons; to issue the most ringing and convincing proclamation to the markets that no more depredations will be tolerated; and to get the Germans to stump up, big time, to protect Spain and Portugal. We are told that the only solution now is a Fiscal Union (or FU). We must have “more Europe”, say our leaders, not less Europe – even though more Europe means more suffering, and a refusal to recognise what has gone wrong in Greece.
The euro has turned out to be a doomsday machine, a destroyer of jobs, a killer of growth, because it entrenches and exacerbates the fundamental and historic inability of some countries to compete with Germany in making high-quality goods with low-unit labour costs. Unable to devalue their way back into the game, these countries are forced to watch industry wilt under German imports, as the euro serves as a giant trebuchet to fire swish German saloon cars and machine tools across the rest of Europe.
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