The International Marbella Set

Sunday 20 March 2011

Sooner or later, the euro-zone financial crisis will be over. Greek, Irish, Portuguese and probably Spanish creditors will have neatly trimmed hair, the banks will have had to shore up their inadequate capital, German exporters will continue to cash the profits from the euro their southern partners have obligingly weakened, and the eurocracy will have found other reasons to meet. But Europe will not be the same.

It will be changed in two very important ways. First, the 27-nation European Union will have fractured into separate groups of 17 and 10. Second, the economies of the Gang of 17 will be centrally managed by a Franco-German coalition, while the nations among the 10 "leftovers" will fight a losing battle to effect the policies of the EU of which they are paid-up members. Peaceful coexistence between the 17 and the 10 is no sure thing.

The 17 euro-zone countries have made the direction in which they are heading very clear. The felt need to prevent defaults by its overly indebted members is leading to a more pervasive system of central economic management. The 17 are to have access to Germany's balance sheet, in return for which Germany is quite properly demanding a say in how they manage their economic affairs. Not only their budgets, but all the factors that affect their international competitiveness: methods of wage bargaining; the generosity of their welfare states, including the timing and terms of retirement; regulations concerning access to various occupations; and, most of all, tax rates.

It's not on for Greece to borrow money from the stronger euro-zone countries while operating loss-making, nationalized transport systems; or for euro-countries to index retirement benefits to wage rates rather than retail prices, with Germany the payer of last resort; or for one member to maintain corporate tax rates at half the level of the group average. It has become clear that a one-size-fits-all interest rate must be accompanied by more uniform fiscal and related economic policies. Joy unbounded in Paris as the long-sought French goal of a 17-nation euro-zone "economic government" comes closer to realization, marginalizing EU institutions.

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Categories

'Cheating' Chilean miner rescued (1) 'Codependency is not about a relationship with an addict (1) 000 inhabitants (1) A Pole Addict's 12 Step Program: Step 12 (1) ADDICTED TO LOVE (1) CONTINUE ENGAGING YOUR PRIMARY MATE (1) Celebs manage a quiet divorce (1) China’s aggressive new regulations aimed at cooling off the nation’s real estate market have led to the first decline in housing prices in 16 months (1) Courtney Cox was cheating (1) Depression (1) Hollywood ex-romance: Shia LaBeouf and Carey Mulligan confirm their Split (1) INVEST IN A “PAY-AS-YOU-GO” PHONE (1) Jerry Hall former model and wife of Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger (1) Joaquin Villanova (1) Juhu-based actress has lodged a case against her husband and his two brother-in-laws from his first marriage for cheating and threatening her. (1) Successful businesses must focus on relationship building (1) That was the best sex ever (1) Tiger Woods Tiger hole number 3 (1) What is Compulsive Sexual Behavior (1) as ‘outrageous’ for a municipality of 30 (1) but she didn't give up looking for me at just one strip club. (1) control battles take place (1) denounced the salary of the Mayor (1) has revealed her ex-husband’s addiction for poker and women. (1) husband was having sex with someone else (1) it is the absence of relationship with self (1) mood swings and irritability - these symptoms are more visible in men when they break up with their girlfriends. (1) signs of a cheating wife you can't ignore (1) “It was like she was stalking me. “She definitely knew who I was and wanted to meet me and talk things over (1)

Unordered List

Disclaimer

Disclaimer: The statements and articles listed here, and any opinions, are those of the writers alone, and neither are opinions of nor reflect the views of this Blog. Aggregated content created by others is the sole responsibility of the writers and its accuracy and completeness are not endorsed or guaranteed. This goes for all those links, too: Blogs have no control over the information you access via such links, does not endorse that information, cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information provided or any analysis based thereon, and shall not be responsible for it or for the consequences of your use of that information.

Blog Archive

Pageviews from the past week

Subscribe via email

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Members

Powered by Blogger.

Translate

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Popular Posts

THE INTERNATIONAL MARBELLA SET

THE INTERNATIONAL MARBELLA SET

Popular Posts