| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:The will of the dead people | |
| Posted by: | Andy Jones | |
| Date/Time: | 05/07/18 16:42:00 |
This is a very outdated view of the EU that fundamentally misunderstands the way in which it has changed over the past few decades. When the organisation was much smaller there were people in France, German and Italy who saw increased political union as a desirable goal but even in their own countries they were a minority. Margaret Thatcher was probably the first to realise how the single market and expansion of the EU actually weakened the case for political union. Do you really believe that these nations hold their sovereignty any more cheaply than we do? It is self-evident that the more countries that join the less power can reside in the centre and that is exactly what has happened. Britain was always the most enthusiastic advocate of expansion perhaps because it saw the dangers in being in an organisation that could be dominated by a Franco-German alliance. Similarly the idea that the Euro was imposed on countries is a false one. After generations in which their economies were hamstrung by fiscal mismanagement, many people in these countries looked towards joining the Euro as a way of ending the cycle of progressive impoverishment and decline which occurred when their governments were simply allowed to debase their way out of a deficit i.e. by robbing domestic savers. It is not true to say that most of the countries are worse off since they joined. Even allowing for the impact of the global financial crisis the growth rates in these economies has been well above historical norms. The view that current economic problems in many of these countries could be solved by leaving the Euro is totally incorrect. Debasing the currency and defaulting on overseas loans (thereby ending the inward flow of capital that funds growth) would lead to a huge contraction in the economy of anyone that went down that route. The problems that many of these countries have is not down to the requirement to keep budget deficits below a certain level but restrictive labour practices which have led to massive youth unemployment and stifled growth. These are policies which are set by national governments not the EU. |