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Okay, I Now Predict That The European Union Has, At Most, 18 Months to Live


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2016 Nov 11, 7:16pm   1,979 views  6 comments

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ECB’s First Chief Economist Warns – The EU is a ‘House of Cards’
Michael Krieger | Posted Monday Oct 17, 2016 at 1:10 pm

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None of the following about the EU will come as a surprise to most of you, but the language used by Otmar Issing is nevertheless pretty remarkable.

The Telegraph reports:

The European Central Bank is becoming dangerously over-extended and the whole euro project is unworkable in its current form, the founding architect of the monetary union has warned.

“One day, the house of cards will collapse,” said Professor Otmar Issing, the ECB’s first chief economist and a towering figure in the construction of the single currency.

Prof Issing said the euro has been betrayed by politics, lamenting that the experiment went wrong from the beginning and has since degenerated into a fiscal free-for-all that once again masks the festering pathologies.

“Realistically, it will be a case of muddling through, struggling from one crisis to the next. It is difficult to forecast how long this will continue for, but it cannot go on endlessly,” he told the journal Central Banking in a remarkable deconstruction of the project.

The regime is almost certain to be tested again in the next global downturn, this time starting with higher levels of debt and unemployment, and greater political fatigue.

Prof Issing lambasted the European Commission as a creature of political forces that has given up trying to enforce the rules in any meaningful way. “The moral hazard is overwhelming,” he said.

The ECB has “crossed the Rubicon” and is now in an untenable position, trying to reconcile conflicting roles as banking regulator, Troika enforcer in rescue missions and agent of monetary policy. Its own financial integrity is increasingly in jeopardy.

The central bank already holds over €1 trillion of bonds bought at “artificially low” or negative yields, implying huge paper losses once interest rates rise again. “An exit from the QE policy is more and more difficult, as the consequences potentially could be disastrous,” he said.

“The decline in the quality of eligible collateral is a grave problem. The ECB is now buying corporate bonds that are close to junk, and the haircuts can barely deal with a one-notch credit downgrade. The reputational risk of such actions by a central bank would have been unthinkable in the past,” he said.

Prof Issing slammed the first Greek rescue in 2010 as little more than a bailout for German and French banks, insisting that it would have been far better to eject Greece from the euro as a salutary lesson for all. The Greeks should have been offered generous support, but only after it had restored exchange rate viability by returning to the drachma.

Indeed, as I highlighted in last year’s post: German Study Proves It – 95% of Greek “Bailout” Money Went to the Banks.

Jacques Delors, the euro’s “political” founding father, issued his own candid post-mortem last month on the failings of EMU but disagrees starkly with Prof Issing about the nature of the problem.

His foundation calls for a supranational economic government with debt pooling and an EU treasury, as well as expansionary policies to break out of the “vicious circle” and prevent a second Lost Decade.

The fact that some are actively considering this in the wake of all the populist movements tells on the continent, tells you just how disconnected many of these people are.

“It is essential and urgent: at some point in the future, Europe will be hit by a new economic crisis. We do not know whether this will be in six weeks, six months or six years. But in its current set-up the euro is unlikely to survive that coming crisis,” said the Delors report.

Prof Issing is not a German nationalist. He is open to the idea of a genuine United States of Europe built on proper foundations, but has warned repeatedly against trying to force the pace of integration, or to achieve federalism “by the back door“.

He decries the latest EU plan for a “fiscal entity” in the Five Presidents’ Report, fearing that such move would lead to a rogue plenipotentiary with unbridled powers over sensitive issues of national life, beyond democratic accountability.

Such a system would erode the budgetary sovereignty of the member states and violate the principle of no taxation without representation, forgetting the lessons of the English Civil War and the American Revolution.

Of course, since most EU technocrats have virtually no capacity for introspection, there’s close to a zero percent chance they’ll do the right thing. Therefore, as I laid out in the post, It’s Not Just the UK – Widespread Support for EU Referendums Seen Across the Continent, here’s how I see things playing out:

Euro skepticism is on the rise.
EU technocrats will fight back with sticks instead of carrots, furthering euro-skepticism.
Great Britain will be the first, but probably not the last country to hold an EU referendum over the next 5-10 years.
The EU as it stands is a failed experiment. This is proven by the inept and corrupt handling of both the Greek “bailout” program and the refugee crisis.
The only solution is to increase decentralization and restore national democracy within the framework of some of the popular attributes the EU offers.
EU technocrats are obsessed with a further centralization of power and will continue to push it against the will of the people.
The EU will ultimately disintegrate as a result of overwhelming popular dissent to technocratic scheming and incompetence.

For related articles, see:

German Study Proves It – 95% of Greek “Bailout” Money Went to the Banks

Does the Migrant Crisis Represent the End of the European Union?

Video of the Day – Here’s What Happened When a Member of European Parliament Tried to Read the TTIP Text

The EU Wants to Impose a Tax for Sharing Links on the Internet

Head of the European Parliament Warns – EU at Risk of Falling Apart

#Inevitable

Comments 1 - 6 of 6        Search these comments

1   8e6e0   2016 Nov 11, 7:22pm  

Breakup of the EU already truly commenced with Brexit, which will be wound down soon by Theresa May, and once Italy, Spain, Portugal & Greece's real toxic debt levels are yet again revealed (private and public sector), the sovereign-minded northern nations forming the EU, ironically including a very much financially distressed France, will see popular uprisings within their borders to essentially openly rebel against any politicians who don't bail on the flawed-from-birth European Union disaster/experiment.

Place your bets.

"While they reside on polar opposites of the political spectrum, GOP nominee Donald Trump and elitist investor George Soros have both predicted the complete downfall of the European Union.

The two billionaires both independently declared that they believe a domino effect has been started by Britain’s decision to leave the EU, and the the process will be difficult for anyone to stop.

“Now the catastrophic scenario that many feared has materialised, making the disintegration of the EU practically irreversible,” Soros said in a statement.

Soros even suggested that the UK itself “may not survive”.

“The consequences for the real economy will be comparable only to the financial crisis of 2007-2008,” the investor, who was said to have profited massively from the referendum.

Soros suggested that Europe as a whole faces economic disaster.

“Tensions among member states have reached a breaking point, not only over refugees, but also as a result of exceptional strains between creditor and debtor countries within the eurozone,” he said.

Soros also intimated that the fear of total economic chaos will drive people into the arms of globalists pushing for political and cultural homogenization.

“I am convinced that as the consequences of Brexit unfold in the weeks and months ahead, more and more people will join us,” Soros said.

“After Brexit, all of us who believe in the values and principles that the EU was designed to uphold must band together to save it by thoroughly reconstructing it.” the elite leftist declared.

Still on business in Scotland, Trump also predicted the complete break up of the EU, and also warned that the continent would become unrecognisable within ten years if strict immigration controls are not enacted.

“The people have spoken. I think the EU is going to break up. I think the EU might break up before anybody thinks in terms of Scotland.” Trump said in an interview with The Times.

“I really think that without the immigration issue [the EU] wouldn’t have had a chance of breaking up … the people are fed up, whether it’s here or in other countries. You watch: other countries will follow.” Trump added.

Trump said he advocates creating safe zones in the home countries of European migrants.

“You’re going to have to. You cannot allow this to happen to Europe. It would be so much easier for me to tell you: ‘Oh, I’d accept them with open arms,’ but Europe is not going to be recognisable in 10 years.” the GOP nominee said.

Trump also pledged to prioritise Britain should he become US president, unlike the “negative” Barack Obama, who warned that Britain would be sent to the back of the queue as far as trade deals with the US are concerned."

2   Tenpoundbass   2016 Nov 11, 7:24pm  

WIthout TPP and NAFTA now in Jepardy they will all fold. And those Countries will start fare better.

3   AllTruth   2016 Nov 11, 7:52pm  

The UK has fared much better since the BREXIT Referendum passed.

Sovereignty and the ability to produce one's own currency (rather than being tied to a cobbled-together common currency used by widely disparate nations - culturally and economically speaking (thing Germany versus Greece) - is a good thing.

The nationalists in the EU have watched Brexit, Trump & other events, and are extremely motivated to aggressively pursue killing the travesty that is both the European Union (where essentially 3 creditor nations subsidize the rest of the debtor nations) and its awful common currency that joins them at the hip.

4   Tenpoundbass   2016 Nov 11, 8:18pm  

The EU was formed in the first place because of the Global depression Carter's adminstration created.

5   Y   2016 Nov 11, 8:33pm  

As they should, so Europe can go back to warring against each other, as nature intended...

Tenpoundbass says

WIthout TPP and NAFTA now in Jepardy they will all fold

6   freespeechforever   2016 Nov 12, 8:17am  

Italy referendum result could send shockwaves through markets and DESTROY Europe

http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/731484/Italian-referendum-shockwaves-European-Union-financial-markets

THE EU’s days might be numbered with Italy about to vote on a referendum which could send shockwaves across the continent.

By SIMON OSBORNE
PUBLISHED: 10:10, Sat, Nov 12, 2016 | UPDATED: 11:32, Sat, Nov 12, 2016

Analysts believe the outcome of the ballot on constitutional reform could have massive global implications.

With many European leaders already coming under severe pressure from anti-EU parties ahead of elections next year the significance of the Italian result is huge.

Defeat for Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi could lead to even deeper social turmoil in countries already struggling with austerity, immigration problems and a growing contempt for Brussels.

Maria Paola Toschi, global market strategist at JP Morgan Asset Management told CNBC: "The upcoming Italian referendum this December may create volatility across markets as the year draws to a close." 

Ms Toschi said the referendum is widely considered as political test for Italy and its leader Matteo Renzi. 

She said: "A victory for Yes could reinforce the empowerment of the current coalition on an ambitious program of reforms. 

"A victory of No could open a period of uncertainty on the political stability of the current coalition that has been always strongly committed on reforms."

Under the Italian constitution any new law needs to be approved by both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, often resulting in delays.

But on December 4, the Italian public will get to decide whether they want to stick with the old way or shake things up by restructuring the legislative process by effectively reducing the second chamber's power.

Mr Renzi has vowed to resign and abandon politics if the constitutional reforms were not passed and opponents appear to have seized on what they see as an opportunity to oust him and press ahead with their own populist anti-EU agendas.

Ms Toschi said: "There is certainly a lot of interest on the upcoming Italian referendum and what its result may mean for the future of Europe's political stability.”

Ana Thaker, a market economist at PhillipCapital said the Italian result could be as "significant as Brexit”. 

She said: "Britain's decision to leave the European Union was the first sign of trouble in the European Union.

"If Italy decides to leave, it is confirmation that the union is in trouble and could spark a long-term market rout which European equities would suffer from the most."

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