ARE THE GERMANS RETURNING TO BRAND?
JAN MARIA JACKOWSKI
The Euro zone cannot come out of the structural crisis yet, which is devouring the common currency. Whereas, an adviser of the German government – prof. Kai A. Konrad instead of the ‘official optimism’ orders a cold shower. According to him, the economic situation in the Euro zone is going to get worsened and it will cause a political turmoil. In an interview given to the opinion-making newspaper ‘Die Welt’, he said that the Germans should resign from euro. In the opinion of the advisor for the German government – ‘euro is not Europe. We must save Europe, not euro’. However, Germany cannot withdraw from the euro-group for political reasons, but other countries could persuade Germany to make this step – explained prof. Kai A. Konrad. ‘If Germany and a few other financially strong countries resign from the currency union, there will be devaluation of euro and countries of the Southern Europe will recover economically again’ – he stated. It is a significant interview, especially in the context of a declaration of the authority camp in Poland about the priority of joining the Euro zone. The government of Tusk is behaving like a poor man, who is going for a party, when everything has been eaten and participants of the party are going away from tables in haste. the advisor of the German government said it loudly, which has been repeated in Berlin quietly for a long time, that there is not any good solution of the structural crisis of the common currency. Euro, in the countries of such various richness, potential, degree of development, business culture, infrastructure, budget discipline, like Germany and, for example, Greece, has been an ideological and political project separated from economic realities since the beginning. However, Germany made a big business thanks to the common currency, and economies of weaker countries were ‘sucked out’.
Today those who are governing in Berlin, and who thought that with the common currency they will easily take over the control over the whole continent, are tossing a hot potato in their hand and are wondering what will be next. The situation must be very bad, if they are seriously thinking about a scenario of resigning from the euro – group and returning to brand, which would mean throwing away partners of Euroland from a rescue boat into the sea. In this way they would defend themselves from a scenario defined as ‘apocalyptic’. It is based on the collapse of the currency union and each of the countries of Euroland, would accept their national currencies, and this would mean a gigantic recession and growth in unemployment.
The Germans are acting in two ways and in a long term. On the one hand, they are saving their banks and are trying to use the crisis for a policy of increasing their influences in Europe, and also for earning at the sale of its assets to Greece. On the other hand – they are relieving social tensions, because German citizens do not feel like financing euro from their taxes, they are preparing an emergency solution in a situation if it would be beneficial for them to withdraw from the project of the common European currency.
After 13 years one can clearly see the effects of the utopian ideology separated from the good economy. Charles Dumas, the main economist of the London agency Lombard Street Research, is convinced of the fact that EU member countries experiencing problems today, will lead to the defeat of the Euro zone. ‘The longer it lasts, the more painful final defeat it is going to be’ – Dumas said to newspapers a few years ago.
(AA)
"Niedziela" 36/2013