The scariest moment of my ministerial life
Hat tip to the Australian Lowy Institute pointing at a speech by the Polish Foreign Minister yesterday, which has some stark passages and I have selected this section, which historically is poignant and telling:
Quote:
I will probably be the first Polish foreign minister in history to say this, but here it is: I fear German power less than I am beginning to fear its inactivity. You have become Europe’s indispensable nation. You may not fail to lead: not dominate, but to lead in reform.
There is nothing inevitable about Europe’s decline. But we are standing on the edge of a precipice. This is the scariest moment of my ministerial life.
Link:http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b753cb42-1...#ixzz1f8jH7ngU
Fiscal compact er means Fiscal Union
To my amusement Jacques Delors, the EU Commission's President (1985-1995), has now come out to announce what went wrong:
Quote:
the eurozone was flawed from the beginning....the lack of central powers to co-ordinate economic policies allowed some members to run up unsustainable debt.
Link:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16016131 and the actual interview:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/f...o-my-plan.html
Now we have bankers and politicians advocating a compact or union. Which is a typical European response, a grand scheme that promises much and later is found to have failed to deliver.
Instead of the public, let alone parliaments, evaluating such suggestions it will be the markets and methinks bankers. Now who got us into this mess?