You don't get much Unity, or Justice, or Freedom out of the EU. And the Germans are waking up to that fact.
Indeed, the general population, rather than the Political Class, was never asleep to it. The knife-edge referendum results in France would never have happened in Germany. There, solid No votes would have occurred, as could not have been said of Britain after, in each case, a month of the BBC on the subject; indeed, that was precisely why David Cameron wanted one.
Today, asked to work until they are 67 so that the Greeks can retire at 63 or riot in the streets if they are not allowed to do so, the Germans are rightly telling anyone who is interested where to stick it.
The territory defined by the euro and the Schengen Accord is now a failed state. Only one country can pull the plug, was always going to eventually, and will now do so very, very soon.
As for Britain's having stayed out, be grateful that the Chancellor after the 1997 Election was not Ken Clarke, but Gordon Brown.
Yes, even mainstream economists like Paul Krugman are now arguing that the eurozone was a bad idea. Although in some cases, their prescribed remedies aren't that great either. I think Krugman argued that the only way to fix the eurozone it to have a united fiscal policy as well, basically creating a United States of Europe, the alternative, allowing the eurozone to collapse, being too horrible to contemplate.
ReplyDeletePerhaps it is time for the economists to dust off the concepts of national sovereignty and real development (manufacturing, agriculture, and infrastructure) as opposed to various financial schemes that just leave everything a mess.
Well, what are you doing about it, right there in Milton Friedman's city?
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