On Fri, 30 Jan 1998, Richard K. Moore wrote:
>
> Isn't the primary consquence of the EU to lubricate the sellout of Europe
> to globalization? Isn't the concept of an "economically strong Europe" (a
> competitor to the US and Japan) completely out of date under globalization?
No. Globalization is creating gigantic transnational macroregions in the
world economy, from the Pacific Rim to Central Europe. Kohl and his clones
are not con artists: they're the picked representatives of the
Eurokeiretsu, whose combined financial-industrial might outweighs that of
the USA, but whose role in the world economy is still second-tier. The
Eurocapitalists have internal squabbles, but they're united on one thing:
they're not interested in subsidizing the consumption binge of US ruling
elites (the US is a net debtor to the EU/Japan). The euro is about
toppling the dollar's status as world reserve currency, and ultimately,
about toppling the rule of the US Empire itself.
And they have the muscle to do it. EU GDP is around $8.5 trillion, and
their banks have maybe $14 trillion in assets, three times the size of the
US banking system. The Central European core economies are world leaders
in autos, machine-tools, pharmaceutical, industrial software,
semiconductors, etc. etc. etc. Compared to this, even Japan has a ways to
go before it can truly face off with the Americans. Finally, you will note
that countries like South Korea owe more debt to the EU plus Japan than
they do to the US. Deutsche Bank is mightier than the IMF.
-- Dennis