Is The Euro Terminal?

In Greece the centre-right leader Antonis Samaras has found it impossible to create a coalition government based on austerity and staying within the Euro. In France the new President, Francois Hollande, has signalled that the compact with Germany will have to be renegotiated. Spain is fast approaching crisis as its industrial output slumps by another 7% and, in Italy, skepticism of the EU is growing apace. What does this all mean? It seems to indicate that the idea of a united Europe is fast coming unravelled. Not because it was a bad idea. Originally founded on two sound principles - preventing further European wars and creating a single market to increase wealth - it began to go downhill when the politicians forgot why it was created. They began to see it as a vehicle for their dreams and ambitions, a larger canvas on which they hoped to project an even larger image of themselves. The Euro was never necessary on strict economic criteria. It was only necessary for those politicians who saw the currency as a badge of honour and, as more and more European politicians saw it in those terms and clamoured for their countries to be included, it quickly lost its real purpose and was devalued even before it was launched. Now its continued existence and remaining within it has become a matter of pride for politicians who have been blinded by their own propaganda. Greece should and will probably leave the Euro, followed in quick succession by Spain and probably Italy. And if Hollande cannot get the Germans to change tack then France may well do the same. The Euro was a good idea ruined, like so many things, by the politicians - it will not be missed.

Europe Turns Left.

The French have thrown out Sarkozy, the Greeks have abandoned their traditional political parties and Iceland has prosecuted the bankers and politicians who destroyed their country. Angela Merkel immediately went on the attack deploying the "there's no alternative" argument for all she's worth. Meanwhile in Britain Cameron has licked his wounds after the bruising local elections and promised more of the same using simpler language so the peasants will understand better. Their message is the same - we have to pay our debts caused by the banking crisis to the banks otherwise its the end of the world. No, it will simply be the end of theirs. What is becoming increasingly clear - to anyone who isn't a politician at any rate - is that the financial system they love so much hasn't suffered a mild case of hiccups but a terminal heart-attack. It has been revealed for what it always was, a huge Ponzi scheme - not so much a financial system as a gravy train - and the victims of it have had enough. Time now for the politicians to do what they pride themselves on - catching the popular mood - and bloody-well do something about it instead of wringing their hands and thinking up catchy slogans. We don't want to hear "we're all in this together" or "there's no alternative." What we want to hear is that the people who were responsible for this mess - the bankers - have been detained, that the criminals have been apprehended, locked up and key thrown away. We want regulation, people put before profits and for the rich to realise that their wealth is a privilege not a right and that extraordinary rewards demand extraordinary responsibilities. This reporter agrees that austerity is demanded, but not for the poor - they've always had it, even during the "good" times. What we need now is austerity for the rich. They've revelled in increasing wealth for decades and now its time for them to pay their dues.