May You Live In Interesting Times

We all know the Chinese saying “may you live in interesting times” and I believe it is intended not as a blessing but a curse.

Well we are living in interesting times and it appears to me that Germany is unwillingly on the road to accomplishing what it failed to do in two world wars during the last century. To take control of the rest of Europe. Not by force of arms - but by force of economic might.

As Europe’s richest society Germany is being asked to bankroll the rest of Europe without any genuine hope of ever getting paid back. Greece and other fiscally troubled EU nations are not going to be able to tax its people to the bone in order to repay the loans made to it by the EU. Read mainly Germany. Doing that would cause most Greek businesses able to do so to leave the country rather than pay excessive taxes.

So in my opinion the likelihood of Germany being repaid in full is pretty slim. The Germans know this better than I. So will they be the savior of the European Union, or at some point will they say “ENOUGH” and “the consequences be damned we can’t keep this up.”

The European Union is sort of like living in a Condominium. By analogy, Germany owns one unit, albeit the most expensive penthouse unit, and a share of the common elements. If some of the other unit owners don’t pay their share of the common expenses every month, the Condominium corporation will not be able to maintain the building and ultimately it will deteriorate and be lost. So Germany continues to lend money to the others to maintain the structure.

But how long would you be willing to do this without seeing any chance of the others improving their situation and being able to repay you?

I am sure that German Prime Minister Angela Merkle and French President Nicholas Sarkozy wish that their predecessors had heeded the counsel of then UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Mrs. Thatcher was somehow wise enough to foresee that due to vast differences in the economies of European nations, one currency for all of Europe would not be of benefit, but a serious detriment to her nation and the other stronger nations of the proposed European Union.

I hope the UK citizens recognize the magnitude of what this former Prime Minister did for them by having the UK not adopt the Euro as its currency.

What we have to hope for is the some astute leadership will come forward and lead us out of THIS mess - as we hurdle towards THE NEXT ONE. Because I that think we will all agree WE ALWAYS LIVE IN INTERESTING TIMES.