ALLIANCE FO§ DEMOCRACY

Spain in the trend

In the run for the best returns out of the crisis, Germany is running in circles. The other countries must save, the crisis is a crisis of Europe, not Germany. Angela Merkel says all this again and again, no matter at which press conference, no matter what the occasion. She said it the last time at the World Economic Forum (World Economic Forum, WEF) in Davos, seeking to lull critics of the savings and reform plans to á la ESM/Fiscal Pact. They however refused to remain silent any longer.
Christine Lagarde (head of the IMF) said that she found permanent saving senseless, because it was inappropriate and had terrible consequences, and Olivier Blanchard, Chief Economist of the IMF, admitted to having made a mistake. The figures used for the calculation of the budget and the associated growth, are wrong.
As the bottom line, Blanchard thus admitted what the Alliance for Democracy has known for a long time: the bankrupt countries of Euro Europe cannot produce any more growth. The result: a rise in the number of unemployed, an increase in those living in poverty, low prospects of training and employment for young people, support for the needy is unsustainable and pensions will not rise, if they can still be paid at all; actually they would long since have to have been reduced if the delaying of insolvency had not been practiced, to the detriment of future generations.
The worst of all: The IMF, as the instigator of 133 different austerity programmes, which were imposed on varies countries of Euro Europe in the years from 1993 to 2001, knew what misery this would create, because it was exactly this development of the European market which was forecast in a study published ten years ago by the Independent Evaluation Office (IEO). And so it is more than questionable how the German and other European governments have believed that they could bring an end to the crisis by adding fuel to the fire.
And all this also explains why Spain and (France 2012, 2013) could not reach the Maastricht deficit mark of three percent of economic output in the years 2011 and 2012, nor in the year 2013. These two supporting nations are therefore completely in the trend, because the principles laid down in the report of the Evaluation Office as to why saving is completely pointless now also confirm what consequences can be expected from this permanent saving obsession: There is no more money, nothing more to be saved – zero growth in all 27 EU countries and a minus of 0.3% for the 17 Euro countries.
The budgets of all supporting Euro countries have been doctored, they are also all financed by borrowing, and conceal actual national expenditure by juggling with the formulae, in order to come in below the deficit limit. If the budgets of the supporting countries were not doctored, in that substantial figures that actually belong in it have been removed in the form of direct liabilities for citizens for loans diverted to supported bankrupt countries, but remained there as loans, then new and total debt limits could not be observed – as specified. The Spanish and the French exceed the limits, despite having fiddled their budgets. This confirms all the more how high the debt is. France operates officially with a debt of 91.4% of GDP, although in fact the 100% mark has long been exceeded (without liability constructions). No wonder that the French want to increase the applicable limits; Germany is also no longer at the official 83 to 85%, but far above it.
It is therefore particularly shabby that the supporting countries fabricate their national budget by means of liability constructions, which is not even possible for the supported countries. If the new and total debt of the supporting countries is now compared with that of the supported countries, there is basically no difference. The difference consists only in that the incomparable appears comparable in terms of the amount. The supreme fiddle!
If Germany wants to and could achieve new borrowing in 2014 of € 6 billion by savings in all ministries, then it will only be because of these fiddled budgets. Without the tricks, several more billions of Euro in savings would be required in order to make Schäuble’s dreams come true. All this takes place under the nose of the press without any criticism.
The IEO report shows: German and European policy is not directed at ending the crisis, but at maintaining the power of the respective governments, and also at saving face. And even if the European Commission speaks of mild recession, it still means the weakening of the purchasing power of the Euro. In the election year 2013, in which in September the Germans will elect a new government, this can only mean the immediate deselection of Merkel and Co. And immediate currency reform and immediate introduction of genuine, direct democracy. Everything else, even the election of the SPD/Greens, would be no alternative.