Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Merkels believes "dodgy" Anglo-Saxon practices caused banking crisis
#1
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markmardell/

Quote:Germans want dose of discipline

Mark Mardell | 08:15 GMT, Thursday, 19 March 2009

[Image: merkel203getty.jpg]

Germany's Angela Merkel seems in an uncharacteristically feisty mood ahead of today's meeting of leaders of the European Union's 27 countries. Perhaps it's the whiff of the German general elections in late September that's turned this deal-maker into a fighter.

She's arguing hard that the EU should go into next month's G20 summit with a demand for tough new rules on the world's financial system. It's a popular belief in Germany and on much of the continent that loose Anglo-Saxon rules got us into this mess and the British and Americans need strict rules to curtail their natural attraction to dodgy business practices. That, she believes, should be the priority - not cutting taxes and spending more, as the US is demanding.

She and France's President Sarkozy don't really get on, but they've made common cause on this. Their joint letter argues:

"We are determined to get concrete results at the London summit to reinforce financial regulations... the EU must argue that hedge funds and other institutions which create a systematic risk are put on a register and subjected to appropriate rules and supervision."

Of course it is a question of degree. Few think no new rules are needed. Few think that the world economy doesn't need a kick-start. But it is a question of where the G20 puts the emphasis.

Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman put the case in Brussels earlier this week for the view that tax cutting and spending should be the priority, while also arguing that Brussels should have more power and the relatively generous social security systems in Europe might be our salvation.

For a neat riposte you can hardly do better than read the thoughts of Chevelle, a self-styled bond girl, philosopher, economist and ex-concert pianist.

Mrs Merkel also goes into the summit demanding that the EU's very own 5bn-euro stimulus package should not help build the Nabucco pipeline. The plan would mean gas from Azerbaijan travelling in a pipe through Turkey and the Balkans to Western Europe. This is "energy security": an alternative to relying on Russia. Mrs Merkel's move is seen as a sign of cosying up to Mr Putin at the expense of European allies, and will anger and disappoint some at the summit. She's also asking that the rules make it clear that some of the 5bn euros can be spent on helping German internet providers.

I've just come back from a couple of days in Berlin, where some think there's a sea change in the relationship between Germany and the EU. It's striking that most people I spoke to think their chancellor's stand, demanding tight new rules as a top priority, is just plain common sense. Making money to invest and save, rather than splash out, is deep in the national psyche.

That's why there's also doubt about any plans to bail other countries out of trouble. Germany may stump up the cash if a country like Ireland or Greece gets into such deep waters that the euro is in peril. It doesn't mean they have to like it. I'm pretty sure this will be discussed at the summit, if not mentioned in public. Ulrika Guerot of the European Council on Foreign Relations told me:

"Germany is in a difficult situation: we were the one EU country that really restructured industry. We got our deficit down, we did our homework. Now it appears that a couple of countries didn't do so. So there is the legitimate question: "Why should Germany now bail out the others that didn't do their homework?"

She however thinks Germany should act if necessary. She worries this caution is symptomatic of a profound change in Germany towards the EU. "Germany has been much more looking to the [European] Council, much less to the Commission, less to the European Parliament. We've been less engaged in European projects. Germany today no longer has the same European convictions that it had 10 or 15 years ago. There are some paradigms of German European policymaking that are falling short or falling apart. There is something in the sheer institutional architecture that will undergo tectonic shifts and if Germany does not hold them together no other country can."

That's a long way from clamping down on naughty Anglo-Saxons, but Mrs Merkel's assertiveness may be about more than just catching the voters' eye.

(my bolding)
The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge.
Carl Jung - Aion (1951). CW 9, Part II: P.14
Reply


Messages In This Thread
Merkels believes "dodgy" Anglo-Saxon practices caused banking crisis - by David Guyatt - 19-03-2009, 10:44 AM

Possibly Related Threads…
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  Florida banking agency helped Stanford set up unregulated office to sell his phony CDs Magda Hassan 3 9,263 21-03-2019, 08:47 AM
Last Post: Marius Titulescu
  Banking With Hitler Lauren Johnson 0 5,839 12-12-2015, 12:38 AM
Last Post: Lauren Johnson
  Golem XIV: The Next Crisis Lauren Johnson 3 3,848 22-10-2014, 08:41 AM
Last Post: David Guyatt
  A crisis in Wonga and pay day loan scams David Guyatt 0 2,639 05-10-2014, 10:35 AM
Last Post: David Guyatt
  Lars Schall - “The people causing the crisis are the ones who stand to gain the most from it” R.K. Locke 2 3,644 06-09-2014, 09:50 AM
Last Post: David Guyatt
  Treasury Minister admits more shocking announcement to come about City banking scandals David Guyatt 2 3,056 05-07-2014, 03:31 AM
Last Post: Magda Hassan
  Dulles Brothers, Harry Dexter White, Hiss & Fate of Private Pre-War International Banking - Scott Peter Lemkin 2 3,425 30-04-2014, 01:11 PM
Last Post: Drew Phipps
  N is for Neo-Serfdom, O for Offshore Banking Lauren Johnson 0 2,215 25-01-2014, 07:07 AM
Last Post: Lauren Johnson
  Fraud Police move into Anglo Irish Bank David Guyatt 7 6,967 21-11-2013, 09:18 AM
Last Post: Magda Hassan
  HSBC whistleblower Everett Stern and Occupy Alt Banking Magda Hassan 0 2,369 26-10-2013, 12:54 AM
Last Post: Magda Hassan

Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)