It's also the naivety of the politicians which is so extraordinary.
On Sunday last (the 13th attempt at solving the Eurozone problem in
the last 18 months according to Bloomberg) the leaders were to have
produced a rescue plan but didn't. When they read in their Monday
morning newspapers that many commentators were beginning to pour
scorn on them and spelled out (yet again!) precisely what was
necessary, they (someone, anyway) then proclaimed that their Finance
Ministers would sort out those "final" details today and that they
(the Heads of State) would summarise everything at final speeches
(triumphal?) at 6.30pm. All done and dusted!
Unfortunately, it's now 8.30pm with no solution in sight for the two
remaining problems (the major ones!) of the three. Apparently, 17
Finance Ministers of the Eurozone together with their Heads of State,
central bankers and officials will stick at it now until an agreement
is reached -- "even if it's in the early hours of the morning".
Apparently, another 10 Heads of State, members of the European Union,
but not of the inner Eurozone group, are hanging around, consuming
sandwiches and coffee (waiting for the final group photo?).
The consensus of opinion so far on BBC, Bloomberg and CNN during the
course of today is that some general agreement might be reached some
time, but it still won't have the detail that everybody wants to see.
Apparently, there are rumours coming from the inner sanctum that
details will have to wait for another meeting in November, or
December, or to await a new General election in Italy in January,
etc. The very latest rumour is that Sarkozy is going to ask the
Chinese to help (this surely implies that they have not found a solution).
Well . . . this has happened on 13 previous occasions and I somehow
think that the patience of everybody else is very close to being
exhausted now, whether of rich bond investors, pensions fund managers
of ordinary workers or the millions of young Europeans who don't have
a dog's chance of a job at anytime in the next 5 or 10 years.
Keith
At 16:56 26/10/2011, Ed wrote:
If it is a farce, it's a tragic one. European history is full of
battles and bloodshed. Differences between nations and peoples were
emphasized. What the EU has tried to do with a common currency and
lower national bariers was to put an end to the kinds of hatreds and
slaughters Europeans have had to deal with since time immemorial. I
guess they didn't - and couldn't - go far enough and now they may
have to pay for not having done so and become one more example of a
system based on ideals having gone wrong.
Ed
----- Original Message -----
From: <mailto:[email protected]>Keith Hudson
To: <mailto:[email protected]>RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME
DISTRIBUTION, ,EDUCATION
Sent: Wednesday, October 26, 2011 3:50 AM
Subject: [Futurework] The Eurozone is now a farce
The Eurozone has now become a farce, and the Heads of State who are
meeting today at Brussels will have to be magicians with words if
they are to convince investors that the Eurozone has any future at all.
Today's Summit should have been that of Finance Ministers who were
to have supplied the final details of the rescue plan for Greece
through to Italy. Late last night it was postponed to an unknown
meeting in the future -- very likely a meeting that will never be
held. It's not as though the Eurozone problem is of recent origin.
Officials and politicians have been kicking the can down the road on
at least a dozen occasions in the last two years. The cancellation
of the present rescue plan is only the last of these.
After opening this morning, the London Stock Exchange tried to be
brave for the first ten minutes but shares are now (8.30am)
plunging. Is this the beginning of a "depression that will be worse
than anything in the last century" (Sir Mervyn King, Governor of the
Bank of England)? Readers would be well-advised to buy a few gold
coins while they're still available before Eurozone investors get at them.
Keith
Keith Hudson, Saltford, England http://allisstatus.wordpress.com/2011/10/
----------
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Keith Hudson, Saltford, England http://allisstatus.wordpress.com/2011/10/
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