In their open letter to the heads of government of the 15 member states of the European Union, published June 12, 1997 in several European papers, 331 European economists expressed concern about the current policy trajectory in Europe. They characterized the European Central Bank (ECB) as the _only_ significant European body making socio-economic policy and argued that parliaments and governments will soon lack the ability to correct ECB policies if the bank takes extreme measures to ward off inflation because the ECB will act with complete autonomy. Apologies to Pen-ers -- especially those who favour the EU as a means of pursuing European unity -- are affronted by my proclivity to repeat this same theme. But how, given this state of affairs, can the EU be seen as a vehicle for the unification of Europe along progressive lines? Sid Shniad
