print“The EU is our biggest trading partner. We cannot afford to let it fail. We send much of our goods and services to Europe. We share their values. We want to crush Iran with our European pals. They bomb and regulate the world with us. If the Eurozone goes down in flames; if we let them—we’ll be next.” So said President Barack Obama on November 28. Well, sort of. (Okay, I’ve ad-libbed a LOT, but I think I know my president by now.)
Obama was entertaining leaders of the European Union. He promised them that America would stand ready to do its part to help them withstand the Eurozone crisis.
The stakes are too high, you say? For whom, Mr. President? Cui Bono? Who Benefits, Barack?
Ask yourself that question each time you hear a reporter/pundit/analyst/politician insist that the EU and the Euro zone cannot be allowed to fail.
In reply to the question as to what will happen if this colossus collapses, the stakeholders above parrot a bunch of non sequiturs or circular arguments. In the tradition of “a statement that does not follow logically from what preceded it,” these reasons don’t necessarily obtain:
We can’t allow the thing to fail because the stakes are too high. Again: For whom?
David Böcking of Spiegel Online (a most intelligent newspaper; the Germans are impressive) advances the arguments against the break-up of the Eurozone. These are mostly legalistic, and are not rooted in real economic realities. The treaties, observes Böcking, don’t allow for easy disengagement. Legal disputes could arise over debt owed if the seceding country had borrowed money. And, mostly, sinecured EU official would lose sway on the world stage.
Brace for impact, if you believed these bastards, but here are the economic realities:
We flesh-and-blood Americans trade not with Barack or with Brussels, the seat of the European central government, but rather with the people of Belgium, the Netherland, Germany, France. If the financial institutions into which Europeans and Americans have been herded by bureaucrats on both sides of the Atlantic collapse, well then, individual producers and traders will find a way to make a living without these artificial, inorganic structures.
This is a failure of government, not of all the people, although some of the governed, maybe even the majority, have failed. The people who’ve failed are those who have eaten the state’s forbidden fruit.
It just doesn’t get any clearer than your summation.
“Cui Bono?” Who stands to gain from saving the Euro as demanded by the politicians? Certainly the politicians and bureaucrats with retention of power by the former and sinecures for the latter. And–lest we forget, the advantaged banksters, who have their losses backstopped by the combined public purse of half a continent held hostage.
Bankster interest, commissions and bonuses from public debt stay bloated. The padded potential for pelf remains. Increasing interest is extracted from the profligate PIIGS who get much larger lines of credit than they would without the Euro.
The responsibility and character of all participants who willingly entered into this debt debauchery is suspect. It’s a tragically ironic tale of pimps, whores and Johns. The pimps are the interest demanding banksters. They take interest payments from politician-whores who collect it screwing the citizen-Johns.
The citizen-Johns shouldn’t expect a “happy ending”.
AIN’T CENTRAL PLANNERS, PLANNING, AND CENTRAL BANKS WONDERFUL!?!?
http://mises.org/daily/5713/The-Market-and-the-Distribution-of-Wealth
When will citizens everywhere WAKE-UP to Economic / Monetary realities?
http://www.niallferguson.com/site/FERG/Templates/General.aspx?pageid=194&cc=GB
HISTORY REPEATS.
Here, here Ilana.
To put the Euro crisis in perspective, Greece represents about 3% of Eurozone economic activity or about LA in relation to the American economy. If LA can topple the banks, it is time for them to go down for they are too leveraged.
Even more sobering, the current crisis is only the wind before the storm; all western European governments are structurally bankrupt. Forget interest rates. Debt rollover alone by 2040 will consume 20% of world GDP.
The socialist debt driven model is dead. It is time to unwind and restructure. Now.
I attended a “financial planning” meeting the other day at Charles Schwab where some of the conversation dealt with stuff like “a little inflation being a good thing” and good news about “short term bond yields of Goldman Sachs” …. indicative of how the US and European “financial communities” function. The patient needs surgery but instead is handed more painkillers instead of taking care of the gangrene …. – oh yes, the patient will eventually die but he feels better for the short term on the painkillers.
The market rebounded as a “consensus” decided to print more paper to back up the debt (e.g. issue new debt) and prevent cuts/default/restructuring and all the “evil” stuff.
I don’t know how these tens of trillions of dollars of bull**** can be swept under the rug but for the time being, the world is happy to just buying bigger rugs!