euro (& world?) crisis

[Matthew Cissell]

For those interested, Kai brings up a very good point that has been getting rolled around for a while now (see The Economist, recent issues, and Paul Krugman's blog).
 
    I'm no economist but I can follow the argument. The Euro had some conceptual flaws the architects looked past even as they planned and now that the chickens have come home to roost the question seems to be one of greater federalization (the "US" of Europe) or collapse of the currency and perhaps the EU project. Kai brings up the same point as the Economist, can Merkel convinvce Germany? People that I know in Germany are not overly optimistic, it is a hard sell. The threat of collapse scares the shit out of people for a number of reasons. Of course the temptation for some is to close off borders, return to national currencies (nostalgia is very powerful, no?), and undo this modern mess. I suppose people would need the right leader. Anybody feel a bit of deja vu coming on?
 
    In Spain, which is poised to take a turn to the right, the situation is not pretty: 20% unemployment (supposedly), increasing xenophobia, and the feeling that things were better "before". And the bleeding has not stopped yet.
 
    Not to be apocolyptic (there is enough of that already) but if things start to spiral, the schlumpfing sound will be heard across the pond until people there feel the inicially gentle tug of gravity grabbing them & pulling them along on a mad headlong dance toward the edge. We will look at the abyss & it will look back at us.
    Here's hoping the pols and crats can fix this mess without the herd running scared. We live in times that are interesting enough for any chinese curse.
 
MC Otis
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