Porque Merkel é passageira de 1ª classe do Titanic Europeu?

Mais um artigo de opinião que recomendamos: The European Monetary Union is the Titanic, do New Deal 2.0 de Marshall Auerback. Um excerto:

” (…) Merkel, of course, claims to be safeguarding the interests of German taxpayers. It is amusing to hear the Germans talk about the “cost” to them of staying in the euro zone as a result of “funding” so-called “profligates” such as Greece or Italy. First of all, the “funding” comes from the ECB which creates new net financial euro denominated assets at will, not the Germans.

In fact, there has been zero cost to the Germans. They’ve locked their export competitors into the European Monetary Union at hopelessly uncompetitive exchange rates. German taxes haven’t gone up, they haven’t had their generous social welfare provisions cut (which are much larger than Greece’s, contrary to popular perception). At the same time, the periphery countries have had their economies destroyed by enforced austerity, in exchange for which they get ongoing ECB funding which (wait for it) helps them to buy yet more German imports.

So the ECB keeps the game on the road to facilitate the continued expansion of German exports to the rest of Europe (although that strategy is, as Mr Tremonti amongst others, has started to notice, is becoming a touch self-defeating), and the Germans pay nothing for this privilege. No increased taxes, no austerity and no competitive threat to Berlin’s export base so long as the PIIGS are locked into the euro straitjacket.

A further sad irony is that if Greece, Spain or the other periphery nations genuinely succeeded in implementing a successful “internal devaluation” a number of German businesses would relocate, or force further downward pressure on German domestic wages. (…)”