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ThatDamnedPanda -> RE: Euro, RIP? (5/21/2010 1:38:45 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: LadyEllen
The problems of the Euro have been known for years - since its start in fact. It is impossible in the long term to have a single currency unless you also have political union along with economic and fiscal union. Allowing weaker economies in, allowing national governments to fiddle their books and break the rules and inviting in banks to support it all was always a recipe for disaster to brew and fester - the real surprise is that the Euro has lasted as long as it has, though it must be noted that this duration is accountable in no small part to the antics of exploitation peddled by the same bankers who brought the whole house down.
Even if the Euro fails, any reports of the death of Europe shall be wholly premature. In the meantime it will be propped up as long as Germany can and will support it - when the point of no return is reached it will split into two or more groups and/or some countries will be expelled or remove themselves. There is a limit to how long a government and its people are willing to effectively pay bankers to not destroy them.
quote:
ORIGINAL: NorthernGent
It's nothing like the United States.....by and large they have a common goal....they're all Americans.....that's their history....how can the French and English come to an arrangement? And when the cracks appear the Germans and French will have plenty to talk about.....the good old days when they spent an inordinate amount of time considering the most efficient means of blitzing one another.....
The Krauts aren't happy bailing out the Greeks....the Spanish are bordering on collapse....the English wish it wasn't there and just want to keep everyone else out of this island....and the French just aren't happy as per usual. It's a recipe for chaos.
The two largest economies.......Germany and Britain hold it in contempt......the only difference being that the Krauts see it as a means to achieve what they couldn't achieve through war....and the British see it as we've always seen continental Europe....trouble.
It can't possibly work.
This isn't that surprising to anyone who's familiar with the history of the European Union and the Euro. There's always been a good deal of strain built into the structure, and when times were good and the European economies were rolling, the strains didn't have much of an impact. The stronger member nations, with the more powerful economies, could afford to live with the imperfections, because by and large their economies benefited from the arrangement. Now that times are bad, and the economies of all of the member nations are struggling badly, the bigger countries can't afford to carry the weaker ones, and they're not getting enough out of the arrangement to make it worth their while.
The Germans already aren't happy about having to save Greece, but they'll do it. By the time they're finished sorting out Spain, they'll be much less happy, unless Ireland or Portugal go under before Spain does, in which case they may have already restructured the arrangement. Even if the Euro survives, the EU itself will at the very least look considerably different by the time this is all over.
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