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My agenda here is to make it clear that there is an alternative, and that Greece has no duty to refrain from that alternative out of loyalty to a European Union that appears to be run of, by and for Bild Zeitung and Deutche Bank.

I realise that standing alone it sounds Euroskeptic. I should, perhaps, clarify that I am not a Euroskeptic. I believe in the European project, and I would be the first to lament it if the European Union collapsed. But I do not believe that Greece has a duty to commit economic suicide on the alter of monetary chickenhawk idiocy and thinly veiled German racism. I do not believe that it is in the long-term interest of the European Union to cow-tow to an EPP government that is too craven to stand up to the gutter press - one needs only look to Britain or Italy to see what happens when you allow the likes of Murdoch, Springer and Corruptioni to run your government. And I especially do not believe that it is in the long-term interest of the European Union to make impossible demands of its members.

Now, the ability to print your own money may cause the Greek government to go overboard and create excess inflation. If you believe that this is likely, then you have sound reason to want to stay in the Eurozone. But that would be a consequence of a Greek government failure to conduct responsible macroeconomic policy, not a consequence of leaving the Eurozone per se.

I'd like to take the opportunity to remind the reader that to remain in the Eurozone on these grounds would be an implicit admission that the Greek polity is incapable of managing its own sovereignty on important issues such as economic planning. That conclusion may be correct, even if it is unpleasant, but if I were a Greek citizen I would want rather stronger arguments for it than the Conventional Wisdom of the Springer Verlag. It is, after all, the macroeconomic equivalent of committing oneself to a mental hospital. ...which is presently run by doctors enamoured with full frontal lobotomies and electroshock therapy.

- Jake

Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.

by JakeS (JangoSierra 'at' gmail 'dot' com) on Tue Apr 5th, 2011 at 07:12:04 AM EST
[ Parent ]
JakeS:
Conventional Wisdom of the Springer Verlag
That should be Axel Springer AG, not the Springer Verlag we physicists know and love.

Economics is politics by other means
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Apr 5th, 2011 at 07:19:04 AM EST
[ Parent ]
You said this in the original LTE draft:
As an ardent supporter of the European project, it gives me no pleasure to make a recommendation that may result in breaking the Eurozone. But I can no longer in good conscience watch Greece commit economic suicide for the sake of the failed economic doctrines at the core of current €-zone policy. Enough is enough.
By the way, when you say
I do not believe that it is in the long-term interest of the European Union to cow-tow to an EPP government that is too craven to stand up to the gutter press
the European Union is currently a very good approximation of a continent-wide EPP government and will be for some time. It's a dreadful prospect.

Economics is politics by other means
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Apr 5th, 2011 at 07:21:38 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I know I said it in the original. It bears repeating.

- Jake

Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.

by JakeS (JangoSierra 'at' gmail 'dot' com) on Tue Apr 5th, 2011 at 07:53:44 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Just to highlight how sad the situation is.

Economics is politics by other means
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Apr 5th, 2011 at 08:22:02 AM EST
[ Parent ]
That, and to counter any instant dismissal of my argument as Euroskeptic tripe. And to prevent deter provide counterpoints against Euroskeptic quote mining.

- Jake

Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.

by JakeS (JangoSierra 'at' gmail 'dot' com) on Tue Apr 5th, 2011 at 08:31:21 AM EST
[ Parent ]
"We" get the policies "we" vote for.

Wind power
by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Sat Apr 16th, 2011 at 11:52:57 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I'm fairly sure I've never been asked to use my vote to express an opinion on ECB, IMF, "investor", or ratings agency policy.
by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Sat Apr 16th, 2011 at 02:00:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Perhaps the scare quotes should have been around "vote for" rather than "we."

- Jake

Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.

by JakeS (JangoSierra 'at' gmail 'dot' com) on Sat Apr 16th, 2011 at 06:43:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Perhaps the quote marks should be used in addition to as opposed to rather than.

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Sun Apr 17th, 2011 at 12:20:12 PM EST
[ Parent ]

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