Say no to Germany’s competitiveness pact

Commentary feature in which the author argues that the EU’s crisis resolution strategy is to draw attention away from the underlying causes of the crisis: that you cannot have nationally controlled and undercapitalised banking systems in a monetary union with structural current account imbalances. The difficult job is to translate this technical statement into a language understood by politicians and their constituents, and to do so without lying. This is not a fiscal crisis. It is not a crisis of the south. It is a crisis of the private sector and of undercapitalised banks. It is as much a German crisis as it is a Spanish crisis. This acknowledgement must be the starting point of any effective resolution system. A veto in March 2011 of the current Franco-German 'Pact for competitiveness' is a necessary first step in crisis resolution.

ESO: Background information: EU presidents draft competitiveness pact http://www.europeansources.info/record/eu-presidents-draft-competitiveness-pact/

ESO: Background information: Berlin reinforces stance on eurozone rescues http://www.europeansources.info/record/berlin-reinforces-stance-on-eurozone-rescues/

ESO: Background information: A misguided German narrative of the crisis http://www.europeansources.info/record/a-misguided-german-narrative-of-the-crisis/

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