The Greek people, their newly-elected
government and many Europeans and non-Europeans with a sense of justice,
history and solidarity, have been shouting loud: the “Greek problem” is
a consequence of neo-liberal economic and financial policies that have
become increasingly dysfunctional and dangerous. The problem has been
made worse by the ascendance of sheer inter-governmentalism in Europe.
Both neo-liberalism and
inter-governmentalism are the results of collusion between economic,
financial and political elites in Europe, aided by economists, political
scientists, lawyers, analysts and journalists with a conservative
outlook. The symbiotic relationship between these two has been feeding
on the spoils of increasingly unequal wealth accumulation. Their
narrative about “Greeks living beyond their means” is nothing but an
unashamed distortion of facts about both the present and the past.
The distortion of current facts takes the form of preaching to the Greek people on how they should show penance
despite the facts on the ground. The origin of Greek debt, like
subprime lending in the US and, given the general dysfunctionality of
the financial system as laid bare by the Great Recession, is a result of
reckless lending by private banks. Accommodating economic policies and
perverse financial regulations have facilitated this – just as much as
the symbiotic relations between the European arms industry and corrupt
politicians in Greece, and tax evaders in Greece and tax havens in
Luxembourg and elsewhere in Europe.
This distortion takes the form of
misleading public opinion despite evidence that the ruling elite has
secreted away. The conservative European elites and their henchmen have
been pushing Greece towards destruction despite IMF documents showing
that austerity is unlikely to make Greek debt either repayable or
sustainable in the medium- to long-term.
The conservative rhetoric distorts the
history of Europe too. Europe prospered and avoided repeated crises and
wars only when it found collaborative solutions to collective problems.
The leading proponent of austerity, Germany, was by far the biggest
beneficiary of debt forgiveness. After World War I Keynes argued in the Economic Consequences of the Peace
that the Versailles Treaty was a “Carthaginian peace” that would ruin
Europe rather than set the conditions for economic recovery. This is
very important not only because the demand for solidarity with the
German people came from a scholar at the winning side, but also because
the demand was made despite the fact reparations were meant to
compensate for the human and material costs of more sinister German
military actions in the form of war.
Note EU-Digest: Excellent report on the flaws of the European monetary and political structures which can be traced back to European Conservative Political forces copying and linking themselves to the "ruthless and corrupt" US financial system and the general dysfunctionality of that system, as laid bare by the 2007-2009 recession. This in addition to the reckless lending by private banks and accommodating economic policies and perverse financial regulations. When will Europe understand that the future of Europe must depend on our own needs and objectives and not be influenced by "surrogate" decisions on the other side of the Atlantic, as it unfortunately is today.
Note EU-Digest: Excellent report on the flaws of the European monetary and political structures which can be traced back to European Conservative Political forces copying and linking themselves to the "ruthless and corrupt" US financial system and the general dysfunctionality of that system, as laid bare by the 2007-2009 recession. This in addition to the reckless lending by private banks and accommodating economic policies and perverse financial regulations. When will Europe understand that the future of Europe must depend on our own needs and objectives and not be influenced by "surrogate" decisions on the other side of the Atlantic, as it unfortunately is today.
