I
know, I know. Way too many links have accumulated. You don’t have to read them
all. There’s no test and they’re only there for the convenient reference of
those who, like me, are suffering from Euro-crash-obsession syndrome. Or how to
keep some of the crockery in the air some of the time.
Hark,
I hear, I do believe, the unmistakable rustling of wings - the sound of
chickens, pigeons, and whole flocks of feathered creatures various coming home
to roost. They have been summering in hospitable northern climes, but now the
survival imperative takes hold and roost they must. Cuckoos are in the nest,
the bones of the parent fledglings mouldering below.
Mario
and Mario must be starting to wonder what they have wrought in their folies de
grandeur d’êté. “Whatever it takes”! Clearly it takes more than they thought.
The Teutons claim they were bounced into something to which they never truly
agreed (taking responsibility for Spain’s defunct banking system). The
communiqué was mis-translated into Bundesbank and back into English. Die Frau
Kanzlerin’s nodding and dropping of chin to chest was taken then by the
apparatchiks and self-delusionists (aka Barroso and Von Rumply) as assent. But
now we know, as we conjectured at the time, that she was in fact somnambulant, comatose
or otherwise the lights were on but no one was in the wheel house. The
ventriloquist’s dummy in Mario2’s marionette show. Promise in haste,
now repent at leisure. Even the rumble and fury of the Catalan and Basque
communities (the wealthiest parts of Spain) cranking up joint articles of
secession and riots in Madrid appear yet not to have raised any serious doubts
in the minds of the Euro-zealots in Brussels about the merits of their beloved
project. Faith is blind to reason. Barroso must have more Europe, it must be
the right answer. The not-so-far-fetched notion that it might be the proximate
cause of another Spanish civil war will not divert this ponderous, unthinking
apparatchik from his destiny.
Everyone
knows that Greece is gone, kaput, bust. Only the last Orthodox rites remain but
must await the Troika, which must in turn await the US election lest it in some
way sully the POTUS' desperate grip on the White House. The lovely Christine is
not going to let herself be the one to spoil a sponsor’s party and buddy, buddy
of her special buddy, little tax-cheater (and head of the IRS) Timmy Geithner.
The big, bad secret of course is that any fudge they come up with to include
giving the Greeks “two more years” to keep digging the biggest chase-your-tail
fiscal hole in Greek history is that another Affens ‘aircut must be in the
offing. This time it will of necessity involve official lenders for a deep dish
back an’ sides. That’ll start some serious screaming north of the Alps. Il
Barbiere di Siviglia is ready, his tools of trade honed to a fine edge.
Western
“fragile security” in the eastern Med/Balkans now becomes a hostage to more
Euro bull-shine. The Greeks must be kept in the Euro “at any cost” and cost it
will, when the Greeks get the message they are indispensable to the 6th
Fleet’s Med Mission.
Only
France knows what it’s doing (Sarcasm, Ed?). Tax the rich ‘til the pips squeak
and bring on le déluge. Aprés moi, c’ést moi-même encore – aux barricades mes
enfants. Nous sommes les Misérables. We’ve seen the enemy and it is
Anglo-Saxons in hair-shirts and the shopkeepers of the Square Mile. Lower the
retirement age (for the few who have ever worked) to 55. That will solve
unemployment. No question, the modern French polity has a death wish for which
it can thank Schroder, Monet (or was it Monnet?), Delors & Co. Never let us forget Maggie’s
beaux mots – “the problem with Socialism is that eventually you run out of
other people’s money”. Which in this case includes the Bundesbank and the
dwindling band of other AAA northern fiscs.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/rogerbootle/9577209/Sensible-for-Germany-to-leave-euro-but-theyre-not-ready.html
Das
Volk will get there eventually and the Dutch and Finns will help them along the
way to see the reality of their collective predicament.
The
market accordingly has taken a positive bounce this morning; reflecting no
doubt that even bust Spain can produce great golf players and team captains and
Europe a team with big bottle. Hats off to Seve (RIP), Jose Maria and Sergio.
Hats off to Martin Kaymer showing even the great Bernhard Langer how to finish
a stricken Stricker off. Hats off to a great engine room of bloody-minded
Brits, led by Poulter the Magnificent.
So
fasten your seat belts, the real world, as is its wont, is returning to
confront us all. Bask in the glory, if you will, of the Euro-Ryder-Cup-comeback
but I fear its impact will soon run into the winter sands of the Costa Brava.
Plus
a friendly parting reminder that all applications to be removed from this
mailing list will immediately be respected and that these ramblings can be
found at www.imeffed.blogspot.com.
All feedback up to moderately offensive is welcomed.
Simon
