Vienna, Schönbrunn gardens, statue Fabius Cunctator (Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In an essay penned in June 2011 Bernard Connolly the author of “The Rotten Heart of Europe” explained how the European Union was actively morphing into the New Soviet Union. He outlined how democracy was being destroyed and replaced by bureaucratic command. I have to congratulate Mr. Connolly for his courage in expressing views which endanger his financial career but unfortunately many are coming to comprehend that his analysis is the truth if only because it places a rational paradigm on disparate activity that is actually happening to people in their daily lives. Below I list ten examples to support this thesis. Socrates in his wisdom asked his Greek students to judge a tree by its fruit. If the list below induces an epiphany and makes you realise that the “fruit” of the EU is falling from a NSU tree then I urge you to act on that awareness and disseminate this consciousness and commence creating peaceful community

alternatives.

1.

To soviets money is not a medium of exchange but an instrument of command and control.

When you comprehend this central fact you begin to understand what is currently playing out in Europe.The Euro was introduced for political rather than economic reasons. As explained by Connolly in his aforementioned book the elites in Brussels knew that this hastily executed plan towards monetary union would have catastrophic effects on certain member countries i.e. Greece, Portugal and Ireland. However, despite these reservations, the policy was actively planned and promoted. Thus the current “financial” crisis laying waste to Greece was utterly foreseen by Connolly in 1995 and therefore very preventable.Before our very eyes the needs of the people of Europe are being trampled upon in the lust to bring about soviet style centralization of the European market economy.

2.

Soviets do not do democracy. Ireland is one of the few countries in Europe that has a functioning constitution. Due to its independent judiciary this constitution has been defended and upheld. According to the constitution any changes must be put to the vote of the people through referendum. Ireland has voted on a number of occasions to refuse closer integration into the Europe Union. However, in total rejection of the democratic ideal and in true soviet style, the results of referenda have been rejected by Brussels. Following the Lisbon referendum the Irish political class were privately “demanded” to orchestrate a second referendum when the original “no result” did not suit. This policy of Brussels has rendered national democracies and their written constitutions redundant.

3.

The essence of freedom within the western tradition in Europe is the operation of free exchange through independent markets. Sovietism rejects free exchange in favour of command economics. Over the last 40 years markets in the European Union have been manipulated through progressive and excessive “red tape”. The result is that small and medium sized businesses have been decimated and have been replaced by large “corporate” entities which are centrist creations operating through Fabian policy, funded by client banks. The end result has been the increasing dominance of the same economic “players” throughout the EU. This is Fabian centralization at work. (Fabianism is the slow persistent application of socialist policy which achieves its objective so gradually that most people do not realise the radical change in motion. The word is named after the Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus Cunctator (ca. 280 BC – 203 BC) a Roman politician and general who wore down Hannibal by many years of attrition rather that through immediate direct open combat).

4.

Sovietism destroyed the free indigenous farmer in Russia and centralized its operation. The common agricultural policy has achieved the same objective throughout the European Union. Local family farming has been superseded by industrial level food production, control and distribution. These food combines are centrally owned and financed.
5.

Propaganda as a technique of mental conditioning is an essential element of control under sovietism. Through “broadcasting commissions” central control of “real” information is being achieved throughout the European Union. Thus local and national newspapers, radio stations and television stations all receive their “news” from central “out-sources” with very little real journalism in evidence. This model has led to cross ownership of most European media assts by chosen corporatists. This group disseminates a consistent liberal/socialist message. No alternative philosophy, in the main, is given relevance or coverage. A “Pravda” type of “on message” conditioning has replaced news and information across the EU.

6.

Sovietism is international. Its goal is the central monopolistic control of all the factors of

production i.e. land, labour, entrepreneurship and capital; internationally. Sovietism has no use for nations as such. Thus in true soviet style “Nationalism” has become a dirty word throughout the EU. To be a “Nationalist” has almost come to be regarded as a terrorist. The only political mantra given European credence these days is international multi-culturalism and global corporatism as both of these mental concepts suit the international soviet policy objective.

7.

Sovietism does not countenance independent thought. Accordingly Aristotelian classical criticism, the foundation of the western educational systems of the past, has been replaced by a blind technical mentality. The spirit of rational speculation have been rendered irrelevant in favour of a utilitarian dogma. The direct result has been a “dumbing down” in general academic standards and an overall destruction of critical consciousness. This explains what is presently going on in our schools and colleges and why increasingly these institutions “graduate” so many students who do not think for themselves but who are generally perceived to be in a constant state of “consensus trance”.

8.
Soviets have no place for religion. Thus, for example, in Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain et al it has been ordered that religious “objects” be removed from all “public” buildings. This secularization is an ongoing policy and its objective is the total acceptance of a material Darwinian rationality to the utter exclusion of any and every religious and spiritual creed.

9.

Soviet policy fundamentally promotes the state to the detriment of the family. Throughout Europe, particularly over the past decade, family life has been attacked. Take the following two examples:

A. Family courts in the EU operate ”in camera” through secret meeting whereby, in many instances, children are taken into state custody and fathers refused access. There is no right of appeal. Within these courts marriages are summarily sundered with little evidence required to substantiate a request for dissolution. Under many of the constitutions of the European states marriage is supposed to be THE institution the nation is pledged to protect, before all else. This is now no longer the case. In addition, under English common law, all courts should be public except in times of war or national emergency. B. EU states subsidise “lone unmarried mothers” whereby it is now economically beneficial to reject employment and commit to having children while remaining unmarried. By so doing these “unmarried mothers” thereby obtain a regular weekly income, food allowances, fuel allowances, travel allowances, crèche allowances, free healthcare and accommodation subsidies. All benefits are immediately lost by mothers should they ever marry. Currently in Ireland there are over 100,000 of these “lone/unmarried families”. These policies are leading to a future generation which will never experience “traditional” Judaeo- Christian family stability and is thereby creating a substantial underclass utterly dependent on state subsidies with no sense of a traditional work ethic or social commitment. (May I add that what is happening here is not the fault of these mothers; they are simply accepting a “lifestyle choice” actively promoted by soviet style state policy).

10.

Soviets quickly identified the benefit of moral degeneracy in achieving its aims of family,

community and national decline. Throughout the EU there has been a near collapse in the promotion of basic moral consciousness. This trend is affecting all aspects of life and is leading to depression, alcoholism, violence, isolation, family breakup and social atomisation.

Conclusion

Thus if this indeed is the fruit emanating from Brussels then I too am slowly and reluctantly coming to the same conclusion reached by Mr. Bernard Connolly. I too am beginning to realise that this tree in Belgium should not bear the name: “the EU” but rather should answer to the nomenclature of “the NSU”: the New Soviet Union.

Reference:

Bernard Connolly

“The Rotten Heart of Europe”

Faber and Faber, Great Britain, 1995.

Bernard Connolly Online:

http://www.connollyinsight.com/examples/BC%2006.13.11%20Germany%20and%20Greece.pdf

(C) Christopher M. Quigley B.Sc, M.M.II., M.A., Dublin, Ireland, 24th. May 2012

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Here’s another example of the EU’s hideous strength – the way, that is, in which, as well as being undemocratic in itself, it requires its constituent nations to sacrifice a measure of their internal democracy  to sustain the requirements of membership.

Ireland used to have exemplary rules on the conduct of referendums, which provided for the distribution of a summary of each side’s case to every household and a fair allocation of broadcast time. In order to get the Nice Treaty through, these rules were altered, with the result that all Irish referendums, not just those on the EU, are now conducted in a biased way.

To see the practical consequences, look at this website – supposedly a factual and informative resource paid for by the government…. Read More at source

Reblogged from NAMA Wine Lake:

  We haven’t seen the bottom yet and if we pass this latest treaty demanded by Berlin I fear we will be seeing a lot lower prices as more austerity will cripple ordinary workers ability to even save for the prevail rainy day. Fear of job loss and no credit not to mention fuel prices (home heating and petrol) and ever more social taxes on the way (Water, rain, and household charges) is it any wonder? I bet we will be seeing Dublin apartment prices coming down to the mid fifties by the end of next year!

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Frequently, and with some validity, business people lambast economists for knowing nothing about the real world. They claim that economists dwell in ivory towers and just don’t get it. Some economists may well live in ivory towers but those of us who work for ourselves and employ people and try to make a living in the private sector are not as removed as the business people might think. In fact, we are business people. Yet the point is valid, as theoretical models of the economy do sometimes seem removed from reality.

However, the criticism can work the opposite way. Just because you run a business does not mean you understand how the economy works.

And when business people weigh into public debates about the economy, their pronouncements can vary from the vaguely embarrassing to the downright wrong. We are seeing this in the economics of the fiscal treaty debate.

Despite knowing nothing — or at least very little — about how the economy works, why is it that some business people speak with utter confidence on economics yet they get the basics wrong?

A business is not the same as an economy. An economy is myriad businesses and lots of other bits too that are not businesses, but may be customers of businesses.

full article at source:  http://www.davidmcwilliams.ie/2012/05/24/fiscal-treaty-is-kamikaze-economics-for-most-of-eu?utm_source=Website+Subscribers&utm_campaign=6e58848900-24052012&utm_medium=email

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English: The European Central Bank. Notice a sculpture of the euro sign. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By Phillip InmanGreece may favour eurobonds but Germany is harder to persuade. Photograph: Orestis Panagiotou/EPA

1. The issue at a glance
2. Why is it being talked about now?
3. A brief history
4. What happens next?
5. The options – and key arguments
6. What does it mean for me?
7. Key players
8. Glossary
9. FAQ
10. Some key statistics
11. In greater depth
12. One sentence killer dinner party line on eurobonds

1. The issue at a glance

Borrowing costs are rising for many of the single currency’s 17-members. Italy, Spain, Portugal and Ireland are among those that must pay sky high interest rates on their debts. But what if France and Germany helped out? What if the biggest economies on the continent agreed to issue euro loans on behalf of all countries in the currency club? A euro loan, or bond, could be issued by one country, but would be underwritten by all of them. Germany would pay more for its debts and Greece would pay less.

2. Why is it being talked about now?

A bond is another word for a mortgage. Nations borrow money for all kinds of purposes for three months, three years or 10 years and all points in between. The 10-year bond is considered the benchmark. Western nations will have thousands of bonds in circulation, most of which are traded on a secondary market by investors. These investors will buy a bond when it is issued and then decide to sell it before the maturity date. A £2m bond that pays 4% each year for 10 years, may sell for £1.95m if the country that issued the bond looks a little dodgy. If there is a possibility of default the bond might become worthless.

The Greek crisis has spread fears that Spain and Italy could struggle to sell their bonds without support from Brussels. Spain, in particular, which is close to spending more than €100bn (£89bn) rescuing its banks, could be shunned by private sector lenders and run out of money without support from the mothership. Brussels does not have enough in the kitty to keep Spain and Italy afloat. The German government and central bank, the Bundesbank, are vehemently against the idea. They don’t want to pay higher interest rates. More importantly, German chancellor Angela Merkel says EU treaties forbid joint debt liabilities. The German constitution would also need to be amended say others. And the Bundesbank said recently that even if these problems could be overcome, it will be the Germans left on the hook for all Europe’s debts if something goes terribly wrong and several countries go bust. Worse, international lenders could view new eurobonds as a disguise for an already debt laden eurozone and charge punishing rates of interest.

3. A brief history

Discussion of how eurobonds might work has occupied EU members since the 1960s. A single currency for the six founding members was under discussion in the 1950s and a collective way to borrow using eurobonds was part of the plan. When the idea of a shared currency was resurrected in the mid 1990s, borrowing for all countries was extremely cheap and the need for eurobonds was unclear.

They are not to be confused with the eurobond market, which is a way for corporations, banks and other private entities to borrow money by issuing bonds. London is the world’s biggest eurobond marketplace.

4. What happens next?

One by one European leaders are lining up to voice their support for eurobonds. Mario Monti, the technocrat prime minister of Italy, is in favour along with Mariano Rajoy, the Spanish PM. Greece, Ireland and Portugal would jump at the chance. Even British prime minister David Cameron has urged the 17 members to set aside their differences and agree to issue eurobonds. The key date is now the Greek elections on 17 June. Another strong vote for parties opposed to the terms of the bailout and the crisis will deepen, possibly forcing the EU leadership to choose between a watering down of the current deal or letting Greece leave the euro.

5. The options – and key arguments

If the Germans are right and the EU treaty needs changing to allow joint fundraising, then amendments to the treaty are the first step. Most likely a more fundamental merger of nation states is also on the cards, just as the United States did at its Constitutional Convention of 1787. A political structure to match the shared currency would mean a United States of Europe run from Brussels. New debt would be in the form of eurobonds and would be backed by the European Central Bank. Old debts would remain with individual states. It is a fundamental shift, which is why the Germans are so sceptical. France is keen to force the ECB to accept responsibility for the bonds without a political union.

6. What does it mean for me?

Should eurobonds see the light of day, it could stabilise the eurozone and put an end to speculation that countries will go bust. As each nation issues new bonds to pay for welfare spending, investment, or just to repay old debts, it will be in a new eurobond and almost certainly at a cheaper interest rate.
The eurozone takes 40% of the UK’s exports and stability could bring growth for them and us. UK borrowing costs are ultra low because Britain is viewed as a safe haven. This is unlikely to change, even with extra competition from eurobonds.

7. Key players

Angela Merkel
Merkel and her foreign minister Guido Westerwelle and finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble have argued strongly that eurobonds are flawed. But recent election losses for Merkel’s CDU and Westerwelle’s FDP could force a U-turn. Maybe the German people are more willing to tolerate higher borrowing costs and a little constitutional jiggery-pokery to keep the show on the road.

François Hollande
Hollande wants to bend the rules to preserve monetary union. he is putting pressure on the Germans to sanction eurobonds despite their reservations.

Mario Draghi
Mario is playing hardball along with the Germans. But if he has a softer side, and believes the rules should be bent to preserve the single currency, he could back Hollande’s eurobond plans.

Alexis Tsipras
If the head of Greece’s breakaway socialist group gains ground in new elections he could force the Germans to back down as the price of staying in. Eurobonds could save Greece from decades of high debt costs.

Goldman Sachs
The US investment bank advised the Greek government on how to use local banks to buy its own debts, thereby disguising the true level of its borrowing. Goldmans is now advising the Spanish on their debt crisis. Maybe if the whizz kids at Goldmans can successfully trick the bureaucrats in Brussels that all eurozone debts are lower than they first appeared, the Germans will be happy to back collective eurobonds.

8. Glossary

Bond: a loan that lasts for a fixed period that can range from three months to three years to a decade and beyond. It pays out a monthly fee, or coupon, and at the end of the borrowing period the headline amount borrowed – the principle – is repaid in full.

Coupon payment: the monthly bond dividend paid out by the bond issuer to the bondholder, which is a percentage of the total loan. So if it is a £2bn ten-year bond with a 4% interest rate, that means the bondholder gets £80m a year, as well as £2bn when the 10 years are up.

Eurobond: a bond issued by a sovereign state – Greece, say – but whose coupon payments and principle payments are underwritten by all European Union states. More bomb-proof than a bond issued by an individual nation, therefore.

Default: when a state reneges on a sovereign bond payment, whether a monthly coupon payment or the full principle payment.

9. FAQ

What is a eurobond?

It is a collective debt: part of the problem facing some eurozone countries is that they are struggling to borrow from financial markets at affordable interest rates. If instead the European commission, for example, could borrow on behalf of all eurozone member states by issuing joint bonds, the cost could be lowered for countries such as Italy and Spain, because investors could be confident that stronger countries stood behind their debts. Analysts calculate that Portugal, for example, would see annual repayments fall by €15bn, or almost 9% of its GDP, as its interest rate fell to the eurozone average.

Sounds great. Why don’t they just do it?

Eurobonds might sound great to Greece, but they go fundamentally against Germany’s approach to resolving the crisis. Collectivising debt removes the incentive for individual countries to put their own public finances in order. It also opens up a so-called “moral hazard” problem: if profligate behaviour goes unpunished, what’s to stop any country going on the national equivalent of a giant bender and expecting Germany to pick up the tab? If Germany’s borrowing costs rose to the eurozone average, it could cost Berlin an extra €50bn a year in repayments – almost 2% of its GDP.

There are political and constitutional problems with the idea for Germany too: the constitutional court has made clear that it is not willing to sanction open-ended bailouts of other countries, which might well make eurobonds unconstitutional, and German voters – the fabled Swabian housewives summoned up by politicians to represent their frugal citizens – may not be ready to bail out the single currency zone in the way the policy implies.

Even if the Germans signed up, would eurobonds resolve the crisis?

No. They could help to calm the market panic and ease the immediate budgetary crisis of some countries, including Italy and Spain. But a eurobond would do nothing to reduce overall levels of debt, let alone tackle the underlying structural problem that countries such as Greece are simply unable to compete fairly with their eurozone partners.

Don’t euro leaders usually come up with a fudge when they can’t agree on something?

Yes. There are modest versions of a eurobond, where countries would still be responsible for the majority of their debts, with the commission just picking up the riskiest slice, for example. Such an arrangement might be more palatable than a full-blown collectivisation of the debt. But the less ambitious the plan, the less likely it would be to succeed.

There is also a proposal on the table for €230m of so-called “project bonds”, which would see euro countries jointly raise finance for specific infrastructure schemes aimed at creating jobs and boosting growth. This would be a drop in the ocean, and do nothing to resolve the mountain of outstanding debt; but it might be enough of a sop to Hollande for him to be able to claim he’s shifted the debate towards growth.

So what are the chances for the eurobond solution?

Angela Merkel and her finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, have repeatedly expressed their opposition but they now face intense pressure from Hollande and his Germanophone finance minister, Pierre Moscovici. Monti also backs the idea, and has previously had Merkel’s ear – but Italy would be a major beneficiary so he’s likely to be seen as talking his own book. Another powerful Italian, ECB president Mario Draghi, favours eurobonds, but so far Germany has paid little heed to his demands for more rescue measures. David Cameron has also been urging a more collective approach on the UK’s euro-neighbours, but his view counts for little in Germany after he infuriated Merkel by vetoing a new European treaty last year. Again, the outcome of the Greek elections will be crucial.

10. Some key statistics

• The overal debt of the eurozone is around 90% of GDP, which is well above the 80% level that some economists believe is the maximum debt level for a nation state before debt costs become prohibitive.
• Growth in the eurozone has stalled at 0% according to latest figures.
• Unemployment in the eurozone is 10.9%. In Spain it is nearly 24.1%, with youth unemployment there and in Greece more than 50%.
• The euro is now at a two-year low against the dollar of €1.25 and is now worth just 80p after hitting 90p last July.

11. In greater depth

Hollande pushes case for eurobonds

Why Germany doesn’t want eurobonds

Germany and France clash over eurobonds at summit

Eurobonds could be the answer as eurozone struggles to stay afloat

Eurobond plan sets Barroso on collision course with Merkel

Eurobonds have been ruled out by the German chancellor, but for how long?

Eurozone’s debt mess needs a permanent solution

Investors divided over use of eurobonds

Commission proposes ‘eurobonds’

Eurobonds are back

12. The one sentence killer dinner party line on Greece’s exit from the eurozone:

It’s all very well but Angela won’t wear it.

full article and source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/may/24/eurobonds-an-essential-guide?newsfeed=true

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By Nils Pratley

Markets bounced on Tuesday as the magic word “eurobonds” was heard — new French president Francois Hollande is keen and Christine Lagarde at the International Monetary Fund has endorsed the principle of more debt-sharing in the eurozone. Today share prices are down partly because investors have remembered that we’ve been round the houses on eurobonds several times already during this crisis and the debate always comes back to the same point: Germany is reluctant to underwrite the debts of its neighbours. That reluctance looks entrenched as ever, whatever Hollande and Lagarde might wish.

In what circumstances might German budge? Gary Silverman of Swordfish Research has the answer — “only at one minute to midnight if the alternative was a complete collapse of the system.”

That is surely correct. There was an almighty struggle within the German parliament even to get the current fire-fighting funds, such as the European Stability Mechanism, equipped with commitments. Eurobonds are of another order altogether. In their purest incarnation as a full sharing of debt among eurozone members, they imply a pan-eurozone treasury and something close to full fiscal and political union. Without those ingredients, Germany will continue to regard eurobonds as “the equivalent of ringing the bell for a happy hour so the inebriated can postpone their hangover indefinitely,” as Reuters quotes one EU official as saying.Of course, Germany is deluding itself

full article at source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/nils-pratley-on-finance/2012/may/23/why-germany-doesnt-want-eurobonds?newsfeed=true

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