Greek Travails

The rescue plan for Greece is nothing of the sort and can only lead to the impoverishment of the Greek people for years to come. The idea that austerity without the ability to devalue will save the day will be proved wrong beyond any doubt when Greece explodes. Why then are Greek politicians so frightened of leaving the eurozone? It is worse for them in than out and why is the IMF not advising them to get out now? It must be obvious that Greece simply cannot cope with the austerity measures imposed on it. Ambrose Evans-Pritchard makes this very clear in his blog today here. Greek politicians if they want to save their democracy should be helped by the IMF to drop the euro and return to the drachma. John Redwood has some advice on how this might be done legally in his blog today here. At least that way Greece will be able to recover in the medium as opposed to the very, very long term. Why are the eurocrats, the Germans and French so keen to pursue this line with Greece? It's as if they feel the end justifies the means with the end being a Franco/German hegemony bossing the rest of us mere mortals around. This can be seen already with increasingly closer co-operation between the two countries. Should this worry us? Certainly not once we've left the EU as it puts us where we've always been - an independent operator outside the continent with connections to a wider world and in exactly the right place to be, well, ourselves. In the meantime the Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, Viviane Reding, commends a plan to be brought in by 2020 to cover such issues as political union with a European Parliament with the right to initiate legislation and to elect the Commission members. The Treaty on political union would be subject to a referendum in each EU member country and will pass if two thirds of the member countries vote in favour. Those who don't will become close associates of the EU. Seems there won't be a chance to vote to leave. I wonder why not.