WhatFinger


Eurozone, Bailouts, Elections in France, Greece, Germany

Europe steps to the precipice



The defeat of Nicolas Sarkozy in France’s presidential election and the victory of a socialist president could be the straw that broke Europe’s back and by association, that of the global economy. Over the past two years there has been a struggle among Euro-types over what to do about the Eurozone’s many flagging economies. It started with several bailouts of Greece, whose citizens somehow feel that if their government can’t give them cradle-to-grave “care,” then the job should fall to the more industrious and harder working members of the European Union.
Those in the Eurozone capable of alleviating Greece’s financial woes were certainly prepared to bail the hapless Hellenes out of their predicament, provided they were prepared to do something for themselves that would assure no recurrent future problems. But many Greeks didn’t think that northern Europeans should have the right to tell them how to run their economy. Just give us the money and sod off, was the message many protesters and rioters sent to the countries that put up the money to save Greece from financial collapse. In conjunction to Sarkozy’s loss at the polls, Greek parliamentary elections also saw the ouster of the politicians who agreed to German-imposed austerity, meaning the Eurozone is back to square one, or as rational people call it, the edge of the cliff. Newly elected French president Francois Hollande proclaimed that. “Europe is watching us. I’m sure that in many European countries there is relief and hope at the idea that austerity does not have to be our only fate.” True, there’s always bankruptcy. And that thing about “hope” hasn’t done so well on this side of the Atlantic. Americans quickly learned that if they spat in one hand and hoped in the other which hand would fill faster.

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While Sarkozy wasn’t a particularly brilliant world leader, he did not labor under the delusion that economies are capable of spending themselves rich. His partnership with Germany’s Angela Merkel, who heads Europe’s strongest economy, meant there was eventual chance of all European countries achieving the same level of economic success. That partnership now having ended risks plunging the Eurozone and by association the entire global economy into depression. Sure, Merkel is making all the right noises, inviting Hollande to Germany for coffee and home-baked strudel and German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle proclaiming that Germany will “now work together on a growth pact for Europe that delivers more growth through competitiveness.” These are great words and noble intentions, but Westerwelle somehow fails to detail exactly how growth can be achieved by a citizenry that goes to school until they’re over 30 and retires on a generous government pension by the time they’re 55 or 60. Is there some economic growth hormone about which we haven’t heard? The times look bleak indeed, but then spending one’s self into prosperity on borrowed money is somewhat on par with stealing investors’ money, which we now know is how Wall Street brought on this financial meltdown in the first place. So if economic Armageddon is brought on by felonious American politicians and bankers or by a bunch of fat, lazy Europeans, the end result is the same. All I can say, it’s going to be a bumpy road ahead.


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Klaus Rohrich -- Bio and Archives

Klaus Rohrich is senior columnist for Canada Free Press. Klaus also writes topical articles for numerous magazines. He has a regular column on RetirementHomes and is currently working on his first book dealing with the toxicity of liberalism.  His work has been featured on the Drudge Report, Rush Limbaugh, Fox News, among others.  He lives and works in a small town outside of Toronto.

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