Economy 09:37 04/03/2014

No money, no jobs: Europe’s growing desperation

By Patrick L Young 
From RT

The EU’s inability to deliver repeated promises of prosperity continues to ring hollow. After five bitter years of recession, now the bloc can barely register anemic growth.

After so long in the economic doldrums, the fabric of the Mediterranean is being torn apart. Following massive bailouts to Greece and Spain, Cyprus’ savers were pillaged. France and Italy dangle by a thread over the economic abyss. Eurozone unemployment is 12.1 percent, with current predictions merely shaving that to 12 percent by year’s end. (The UK and US are already approaching 7 percent, and falling).

Europe is busily contributing another nightmare chapter to economic history. The Europhile single currency mania promised a prosperous destiny. Brussels’ hype has instead delivered a festering economic disaster. Mediterranean citizens are frustrated at economic bulimia: crazed austerity following spendthrift government. Even Germans are unimpressed that they have suffered library closures and other Teutonic civic dysfunction in order for Berlin to help bail out their southern neighbors.

The core corporatist socialism of the EU apparatus is entirely to blame. Ordinary citizens are apparently an afterthought to the league of unelected Brussels Politburo functionaries. The EU promotes dialogue between ‘stakeholders’ at corporate level. Thus policy develops from the top down, akin to a centralized Soviet, to serve the government-corporate nexus and not citizens. Budgets are finessed from workers’ pockets and the totalitarian leviathan operates in the best interests of ‘big’ (government, politics, corporations, NGOs et al).

This hierarchy leaves the EU horribly exposed, while a slew of emerging markets have kept growing. China and India both grew more than 25 percent over the past four years alone. Eurostat reckons the eurozone might grow 1.2 percent this year - Asian convergence is becoming reality as Europe declines.

An old world protectionist reaction currently bubbling on the political fringes won’t help either. Trade restrictions will only place Europe on a direct route to being an Argentine-style basket case. The information economy is de facto globalized: as neatly exemplified by the lively comment threads passing through servers on multiple continents at the foot of every RT Op-Edge!

Europe needs a new system for growth. Top-down centralization is impoverishing the people. Eurozone members have been held hostage, destroying the devaluation safety valve. Meanwhile, national interests led by France and Germany have protected their banks from debt restructuring, damning the likes of Ireland to bailouts.

Bloated, slow-moving, democratically unaccountable, centralized governments are utterly inept at dealing with crisis, let alone stepping aside to allow the invisible hand to work its proven economic magic. Thus the Soviet system broke down and so too the EU is doomed without reform. Even insiders are clearly losing faith. Economy Commissioner Olli Rehn recently made a remarkable statement: “The worst of the crisis may now be behind us...” This breathtakingly lukewarm declaration that the worst “may” be over for the battered eurozone suggests even the EU ‘elite’ have an uncertain outlook concerning their vanity project.

Banking remains a massive impediment to eurozone recovery. In January, lending once again declined to households and businesses. This is highly worrying as it clearly shows businesses are not being funded to expand. Even leaving aside the uselessness of the misguided bailout program, the truth is banks aren’t lending to business. That is stifling recovery.

Here lies the final strand of the EU’s ultimate undoing. The digital age is a great economic leap forward full of innovative potential for extending mass prosperity. Alas, the EU’s bulky stakeholders remain painfully stuck in an analogue industrial era. Europe was slow to adopt the internet and continues to frustrate with bureaucratic rules (how many times have you had to read a cookie policy today?) that merely stymie innovation. The future is not with big multinational organizations - the future lies with small business (co-operatives and social enterprise too).

If Europe is to recover its lost economic prestige, it must acknowledge the failure of corporate socialism and move forward. Growth and innovation must be encouraged from the bottom up. That probably means dismantling the EU back to a simple free trade zone, empowering individual creative enterprise while spiking the menace of the far left/right extremists with their vile racist protectionist pandering.

Given how rapidly the EU demands others enact ‘democracy’ and ‘European standards’ of human rights, it is an act of breathtaking hubris to see how poorly Brussels is treating its own citizens in this ongoing economic disaster. Europe’s tragic lost decade remains on track to deliver its citizenry penury over prosperity.
 



Source Panorama.am
Share |
Տեքստում սխալ կամ վրիպակ նկատելու դեպքում, ուղարկեք խմբագրին հաղորդագրություն` նշելով տվյալ սխալը, այնուհետև սեղմելով Ctrl-Enter:

Newsfeed

12:23
Police raiding homes of Armenian opposition group members
The Armenian authorities are searching the homes of members and supporters of the opposition group National Democratic Pole as well as its...
11:47
Armenian leadership seeking rupture of ties with Russia, Lavrov says
The Armenian leadership is messing up relations with Moscow for no good reason, TASS quoted Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as...
11:30
Today marks Good Friday
The week leading up to Easter or Holy Resurrection is called Holy Week (in Armenian Avak Shabat). During this period, the Armenian Apostolic...
11:15
Political prisoner Narek Samsonyan sends open letter-inquiry to U.S. ambassador
Chairman of Civic Consciousness NGO, founder of AntiFake.am media outlet, political prisoner Narek Samsonyan wrote an open letter-inquiry to...
11:00
ARF calls for consolidation to save Armenian statehood
The Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D) Bureau issued the following statement on Thursday: "In recent weeks, Nikol...
17:12
She said yes: Marriage proposal at Hayat Project concert in Gyumri
A young man proposed to his beloved at a Hayat Project concert in Gyumri, Armenia’s second largest city. In a video posted online, the...
16:45
Opposition MP slams Pashinyan's Artsakh statements
Opposition Hayastan faction MP Ishkhan Saghatelyan has expressed support to the Artsakh government in exile following Armenian Prime Minister...
16:04
MP Aghvan Vardanyan visits arrested activists
MP Aghvan Vardanyan, who represents the opposition Hayastan faction, on Thursday visited the Armavir Penitentiary where activists Vazgen...
15:36
Armenian opposition MP visits border villages
Opposition MP Tigran Abrahamyan has visited the villages of Voskepar and Baghanis in Tavush Province adjacent to the border areas demanded by...
15:04
Ex-Yerevan mayor setting up new party
Former Yerevan Mayor Hayk Marutyan is setting up a new party in the near future, his team has confirmed to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service....
14:36
Armenia to send 29.94 tons of humanitarian aid to Gaza
Armenia will deliver 29.94 tons of humanitarian aid to Gaza ravaged by the conflict with Israel. The decision was approved at a cabinet...
14:07
Expert: Pashinyan decided to terrorize Artsakh leaders
Political analyst Suren Surenyants has criticized Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s statements on Artsakh leaders at a cabinet meeting on...
13:35
Analyst: The West doesn't care about Armenia
The West wants Armenia and Azerbaijan to sign a peace treaty as soon as possible and Armenia's territorial losses do not matter to it,...
13:06
Moscow concerned over anti-Russian bias of Armenia-EU-US meeting
The Armenia-EU-US meeting scheduled for April 5 is causing Moscow’s concern as Washington and Brussels are openly discussing its...
12:37
Pashinyan: Some circles displaced from Karabakh take actions threatening Armenia's security
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan warns that the actions taken by “some circles” forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh)...
12:04
Artsakh dissolution decree was 'the only way' to save people, president says
President Samvel Shahramanyan claims his decree ordering the dissolution of the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Republic was the “only...
11:30
Japanese supplement products recalled after two deaths and over 100 people hospitalized
Health supplement products believed to have caused two deaths and sickened more than 100 people have been ordered to be taken off store shelves...
11:15
Today is Holy Thursday
The week leading up to Easter or Holy Resurrection is called Holy Week (in Armenian Avak Shabat). During this period, the Armenian Apostolic...
11:00
Upcoming Armenia-US-EU meeting not directed against any third party – Foreign Ministry
The high-level meeting scheduled for April 5 in Brussels is aimed at strengthening Armenia-EU-US cooperation and is not directed against...
17:00
Azerbaijan's team opts out of Sambo World Cup in Yerevan
Azerbaijan's national team will not participate in the Sambo World Cup to be held in Yerevan, Armenia, Azerbaijani Sambo Federation official...
16:45
Biden calls Putin 'butcher'
US President Joe Biden has disparaged his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for the second time in two months, publicly calling him a...
16:30
Armenian parliament speaker defends land handover to Azerbaijan
Armenian National Assembly Speaker Alen Simonyan has defended the plans to hand over border villages in Tavush Province to Azerbaijan. He...
16:04
Azerbaijan must create conditions for safe return of Armenians to Nagorno-Karabakh, UK says
The UK government is clear that Azerbaijan must create the conditions for a safe and secure return of ethnic Armenians who were displaced from...
15:35
Photo campaign calls for release of political prisoners in Armenia
A photo campaign for the release of Armenian opposition activists has been launched in Yerevan. Photos of political prisoners Narek...
15:15
Arthur Abraham's father dies at 68
German-Armenian boxing star Arthur Abraham’s father, Grigor Abrahamyan, has died in Berlin at the age of 68. “We’re deeply...
15:00
Armenian MP warns of threats after possible land handover to Azerbaijan
Opposition MP Tigran Abrahamyan has warned of threats to a number of settlements in Armenia amid Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s signaled...
14:31
EU mission hosts French ambassador to Armenia
The EU Mission in Armenia (EUMA) on Wednesday hosted French Ambassador to Armenia Olivier Decottignies and members of the French...
14:06
Azerbaijan opposes Armenia-EU-US conference
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has deplored the EU-Armenia-US joint conference scheduled for 5 April, warning that it will create...
13:36
Political prisoner Vazgen Saghatelyan slams Pashinyan in letter from prison
Political prisoner Vazgen Saghatelyan has blasted Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his regime for efforts to silence their critics in...
12:34
U.S. aims to encourage Armenia and Azerbaijan to bridge differences – State Dept.
The objective of the United States is to encourage Armenia and Azerbaijan to bridge their differences, U.S. State Department...

Follow us and get updates!

Most popular articles

{"core.blocks.header.spell_message1":"Selected mistake: ","core.blocks.header.spell_message2":"Send a message about the mistake?"}