On Sun, 3 May 1998, Judi Kessler wrote:
> ...Here comes the "euro" - Now is the opportunity to generate some great
> 1998, down-to-earth, concrete, political-economy discussion.
Well, for starters, it helps to remember that the euro is just the most
obvious and leading-edge symptom of the EU's emergence as a global
superpower (and, conversely, the decline of the US to an ex-hegemon).
Whether the thing succeeds or fails, one thing should be
obvious: the EU countries and their satellites comprise
roughly a quarter of the world economy, and are largely self-financing and
self-supporting in trade, finance, industry and what have you. The EU is a
net global creditor, along with Japan; America is the world's biggest
debtor. But the US dollar is still the world reserve currency; meaning,
the debtor still has some leeway over the creditor (we could inflate away
the value of our currency). The euro is all about taking away this
last of our Imperial privileges, and providing the financial sinews for
the further development of the Eurostate.
The euro in its present form may well fail, i.e. Spain and Italy may drop
out of the common currency, leaving instead a mini-euro comprised of the
Benelux countries, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Austria, Ireland and
Finland. But the drive towards economic integration and the rise of EU
multinationals in the face of stiff US competition is going to continue.
The politics of the EU are the politics of integration, so Left
alternatives to the current global market mayhem have to deal with this
seriously. For one thing, who gets to run the European Central Bank? The
Maastricht treaty says, a coven of bankers, with no oversight from any
elected body or parliament (even more undemocratic than the US Federal
Reserve, if such a thing were possible). And if the euro arrives, it'll
bring a common banking and financial system in its wake. How are countries
like Italy and Spain going to compete head-on with German firms without
some serious EU-wide subsidies? Instead of kowtowing to the demolition
of the national welfare state, why can't the Euroleft call for a truly
European-wide expansion of the welfare state, plus emergency programs for
jobs and ecological reconstruction, to be financed by soaking the numerous
Eurorich?
-- Dennis