tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post4361982122038574220..comments2024-03-22T05:20:44.167-07:00Comments on The Disaffected Lib: Boneheaded BritainThe Mound of Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-19271176897141384852012-04-28T21:22:57.481-07:002012-04-28T21:22:57.481-07:00Sarkozy did try very hard to get some debt issued ...Sarkozy did try very hard to get some debt issued by countries in jointly guaranteed EuroBonds. He failed to get the Germans to agree.<br /><br />Give him credit. He was in a weaker position than Merkel, who is the really the one letting everyone down in Europe. Cameron (n.b., a right-wing leader) effectively declared no confidence in Merkel's orwellian Stability and Growth pact. He said it was to protect The City's financial industry. But I don't doubt he had many advisors telling him that Merkel was pushing pro-cyclical economic suicide. Even though Cameron is pushing "austerity" hard, at least he has the option of changing his policy. The rest of Europe, no matter with left or right governments, as long as they remain saddled with that pact, can't.crfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10726414637021391906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-91975016381091673842012-04-28T10:17:43.389-07:002012-04-28T10:17:43.389-07:00It certainly is a scary thing that one of the resp...It certainly is a scary thing that one of the responses to the problems we face today, re: the economy, environmental concerns and immigration in Canada, the US and Europe is a right (or reich) wing response, similar to what occurred in the 1930's. <br /><br />When events and the surrounding environment seem threatening, too many folks respond with fear and hate, which in my dichotomy is the "right" and then the left would like to solve the problems through cooperation and learning to share.<br /><br /> However these days thanks to Reagan/Thatcher and their descendents and the Chicago School of Economic mysticism, subscribed to by Harper (even though he only attended the Junior College in Calgary) it would seem the holy economy has been elevated to the status of a deity and every other value that society may have has to serve the god of the economy and the free market (which has never really been even attempted) will see to it that everything works out.kootcoothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11344208424209840730noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-53453265537303356402012-04-28T09:12:57.577-07:002012-04-28T09:12:57.577-07:00I'm sure their relatively privileged upbringin...I'm sure their relatively privileged upbringings do factor into their preference for ideology and their rejection of empathy.<br /><br />From what I've been reading in some German papers, Europe's right is in trouble from Sarko to the UK to Spain and Greece. The EU is trying to defuse this by insinuating a layer of technocracy between troubled governments and their citizens but their discontent is apparently fueling a rising populism - left and rightwing and decidedly extremist.<br /><br />Some, such as Gwynne Dyer, have tossed about the idea of climate change splitting Europe into north and south. Not only is the south receiving the scourge of climate change, it's also the half of Europe with the fiscal disaster.The Mound of Soundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-47984456714655466172012-04-28T07:57:31.188-07:002012-04-28T07:57:31.188-07:00Paul Krugman has been arguing for years now that t...Paul Krugman has been arguing for years now that the attempt to placate the "confidence fairy" is madness.<br /><br />And history backs him up. But folks like Cameron and Harper are convinced that they know better. Perhaps things would be different if either man had ever known want.Owen Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.com