Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Talk, talk and more talk

Conference after conference and still there seems to be no agreement on how to solve the financial problems of Europe.

At the current G20 summit, America made it clear that it is not prepared to help out. In reply, EU commission president José Manuel Barroso pointed out that the roots of the  eurozone crisis lay in the unorthodox policies of American capitalism.

"This crisis was not originated in Europe …  this crisis originated in North America and much of our financial sector was contaminated by, how can I put it, unorthodox practices, from some sectors of the financial market."

In the meantime, cost of borrowing for Spain rose to above the critical 7% barrier and so the Spanish government has demanded intervention by the European Central Bank.

It seems to me that the controlling factor in Europe is Germany and Angela Merkel. Her insistence on austerity as a means to cure the problems has lead to stifled growth in those countries affected. And her refusal to consider the issue of eurobonds to pool liability for the euros debt means we are going nowhere fast.

Spain might have made mistakes during the boom years but it was certainly aided buy its northern European neighbours who are now wiping their hands clean of the problem and as for America – let’s not speak about their contribution to the crisis.

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