OK, not sure that the bankroller of the free world should be showing that much cleavage, uhm, dunno, maybe it gets the perverted old Greek Prime Minister to agree to what she says.Anyway, Der Spiegel has a very interesting article, showing the German perspective of what is going on in the EU. At times, it makes you think that the EU will probably spin apart, at other times, it makes you think that, as Melkor thinks, that the EU and the IMF are doing their best to hold everything together and control everything.
The first paragraph reads like something straight out of a Jeff or Melkor World Domination prediction:
Fearing a lasting burden on taxpayers, the German government is preparing a set of insolvency rules for countries in the euro zone. It would require private investors to bear some of the financial burden and force the affected countries to give up some sovereignty.But, notice that she's making this proposal because her constituents, the German voters, are pissed off about funding the EU's basket-case economies. So that one paragraph seems to both back-up the World Domination cheerleaders and the local government cheerleader (that would be me).
The whole article is fascinating because it's dealing with things we talk about so much here, not particularly from the perspective of any of us. More:
The effort is necessary, because important safety measures to protect the common currency are not working. The Stability and Growth Pact, which was intended to nip excessive government borrowing in the bud, proved to be largely worthless. Some of the monetary union's ironclad principles were ignored, including a rule that prohibits member states from coming to the aid of others in financial difficulties. It was only with political tricks of questionable legitimacy that the euro-zone countries managed to ward off the crisis in the short term, but by no means has it been overcome. German taxpayers, in particular, could face enormous burdens if the current measures fail. Under the provisions of the bailout package, Germany has pledged up to €170 billion.I skipped over the part of where Merkel and her Finance Minister have worked so hard to put together a package, that France can go along with, that sets up new rules for how to manage the crisis and not screw over the German taxpayer. The above paragraph shows that one country in particular is carrying the weight of Europe, and that the rules that were laid down by the international authority were ignored by some member states.
The article is goes into great detail explaining everything that is going on, including the creation of a "Berlin Club" of donor nations. Summary paragraphs:
The concept by no means sells itself. If the project were organized under the auspices of the EU, it would face a high hurdle: The European treaties would have to be amended to establish the Berlin Club, which would require the consent of each individual member. This is not a process governments are keen to repeat after the experiences of the Lisbon Treaty.
Nevertheless, there is no way around pushing ahead with emergency planning, because the situation could come to a head more quickly than anticipated. The aid for Greece is subject to the Papandreou government fulfilling the EU and IMF requirements. The Greek prime minister is full of good intentions, but his measures have been relatively ineffective so far. Although the government is raising taxes and even introducing new taxes, revenues have fallen short of expectations. Strikes, like the one that was staged last Thursday, are constantly paralyzing public life and the economy.
In other words, it is quite possible that Greece will not fulfill the conditions and thus will receive no aid from the European fund. This could lead to a consequence that European leaders have been trying to prevent at all costs: a total national bankruptcy. And, if the reform package has not been implemented by then, it could end up being anything but an orderly process.
What do you guys think?
