> Subject: > ip: Lessons Of The Euro > Date: > Mon, 16 Oct 2000 22:25:16 -0400 > From: > "R. A. Hettinga" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: > Digital Bearer Settlement List <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > --- begin forwarded text > > > Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2000 11:46:37 -0500 > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > From: Eagle Forum <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> (by way of [EMAIL PROTECTED]) > Subject: ip: Lessons Of The Euro > > Lessons Of The Euro > > Oct. 11, 2000 by: Phyllis Schlafly > > Denmark's dramatic decision to ditch the euro holds an important > lesson for both Europeans and Americans: the march toward the > global economy is fundamentally anti-democratic. The gulf between > the euro advocates and the euroskeptics is now being called the > "democratic deficit." > > Denmark's referendum on September 28 was the first time that the > people in any country were given the chance to vote on abandoning > their own country's money for the euro, the new European currency, > and they rejected it with a 53 percent majority. The politicians in 11 > EU countries banded together in 1998 and adopted the newly created > euro without giving their constituents, 300,000,000+ Europeans, the > chance to vote aye or nay. > > Denmark's referendum, with an 88 percent voter turnout, was a record > repudiation of their leaders. All the political, business and press > leaders in Denmark campaigned passionately in favor of the euro, the > Prime Minister even joining street singers to compose campaign > jingles urging a yes vote. > > Denmark's rejection of the euro is having a ripple effect in England > where it contributes to euro-advocate Tony Blair's sudden free fall in > public opinion polls. This illustrates the fact that the euro battle is > primarily political, not economic, since England's economic > circumstance is not particularly similar to Denmark's. > > Originally, the plan sounded so rational, so much like helping history > to unfold in an inexorable march toward what German Chancellor > Helmut Kohl called the "irreversible" process of unifying Europe. Just > as America grew and prospered by evolving from 13 colonies through > the clumsy Confederation to a mighty United States, Europe was > supposed to progress through the common market, the European > Union (EU), the single currency called the euro, and finally to a > United States of Europe. > > This false analogy failed to fool the Danes, who were keen enough to > recognize the euro as the stalking horse for a European superstate > that would submerge national identity and sovereignty over each > nation's borders, defenses, and even domestic laws. A global or even > a regional currency enables major political and economic decisions > to be made outside of national elections, which clearly erodes > democratic self-government. > > The Danes realized that the sovereignty of their country was at stake, > and they were unwilling to relinquish control to unaccountable foreign > bureaucrats. As an anti-euro Danish leader said, "If we give up the > krone, we won't be masters in our own house any more." > > Nothing could be more anti-democratic than the global bureaucracies > that purport to manage international monetary issues, such as the > World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Trade > Organization (WTO). The top salary at the IMF is a tax-free > $364,000, more than twice President Clinton's after-tax salary. > > Unlike elected officials, these global bureaucrats do not answer to > the public no matter how disastrous their policies. And such a > disaster has occurred with the common-currency ploy of the > European globalists. > > When the euro was launched with much fanfare on January 4, 1999, > it traded at a healthy 1.18 to the U.S. dollar. Some Europeans > dreamed that the euro would replace the dollar as the world's medium > of exchange and international financiers liked the notion of an > alternative to the dollar. > > But the euro steadily declined, losing more than 25 percent of its > value, dropping to only 85 cents in September 2000. On September > 22, the Federal Reserve joined European central banks to stop further > decline by buying euros. > > Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers and Alan Greenspan won't > reveal how much money was poured into this intervention, but > estimates are $10 billion. Of course, American citizens and even > members of Congress were not permitted to vote on using our money > to stop the hemorrhaging in the euro's value any more than we were > permitted to have any say about Clinton's series of costly Third World > bailouts. > > Did I miss something, or did anyone raise these issues in the > presidential debates? > > A global or even a regional currency, controlled by unaccountable > bureaucrats in a foreign country, severely diminishes democratic self- > government. It disfranchises voters from control not only over their > currency but also over all related economic policies so that important > decisions can be made outside of national elections. > > A major legacy of the Clinton Administration, working in tandem with > the multinationals, is the ceding of bits and pieces of control over our > economy to bureaucracies in Brussels, Geneva, the Hague, Mexico > City and Beijing. The worst is yet to come, with the World Trade > Organization now impudently demanding that we change a certain > tax law and the new president of Mexico, Vicente Fox, calling for > integrating his floundering economy with ours. > > It may be debatable whether the American economy is helped or hurt > under the rule of NAFTA, GATT, WTO and PNTR (Permanent Normal > Trade Relations with China), but it is undebatable that American > democracy is diminished. While England appears to be waking up to > Margaret Thatcher's wisdom in defending the importance of national > sovereignty, we wonder if Americans will learn this lesson in time. > > Phyllis Schlafly column > 10-11-00 > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > JOIN OUR MESSAGE BOARD! > http://eagleforum.org/cgi_bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Read this column online: > http://www.eagleforum.org/column/2000/oct00/00-10-11.shtml > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Eagle Forum * PO Box 618 * Alton, IL 62002 > Phone: 618-462-5415 * Fax: 618-462-8909 > http://www.eagleforum.org * [EMAIL PROTECTED] > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- > EAGLE FORUM > PO Box 618 > Alton, IL 62002 > Phone: 618-462-5415 > Fax: 618-462-8909 > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > NEW DIRECTIONS TO SUBSCRIBE AND UNSUBSCRIBE: > > Go to: > http://www.eagleforum.org/misc/subscribe.html and use our easy form. > > OR > > To be added to our e-mail list, send an e-mail to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] with "subscribe eagleforum" > in the body of the message. > > To unsubscribe, please send a message to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] with "unsubscribe eagleforum" > in the body of the message. > --------------------------------------------------------------- > > --- end forwarded text > > > -- > ----------------- > R. A. Hettinga <mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED]> > The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> > 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA > "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, > [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to > experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' > --- You are currently subscribed to e-gold-list as: [email protected] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
