Wednesday, March 21, 2012

The Fiscal Compact and its failures (already): Ordoliberalism or Weber's "The Protestant Ethic .."?

So it is now clear that

a) not only has a conservative (EPP) Spanish PM, Rajoy, has been allowed by the Eurozone's key body, Eurogroup. and the EU's Council of Economic and Finance/Treasury Ministers (ECOFIN) to divert from the austerity - budget deficit previously agreed for 2012

and that

b) The German PM Merkel is going to need the support of the social-democratic opposition (SPD) for Germany to ratify the famous/infamous Fiscal Compact deliberated by the European Council in December and signed by 25 of the 27 in the recent March European Counci (of EU heads of states and governments)

But on top of that:

c) The German magazine SPIEGEL reported on March 12 that "the German government didn't reach even half of its planned savings in the federal budget" (a case of do as I say rather than do as I do re other Eurozone members)

d) As Louise Armitstead reports today for the UK's The Telegraph "the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB) said the country’s budget deficit could increase to 4.6pc of GDP during 2013 and 2014"! Adding inter alia: "helpfully the Dutch prime minister and finance minister have already laid out their own punishment", "Europe’s leaders have become obsessed with setting targets and punishments rather than solving the crisis. Quite how far removed they are from both economic reality and possibility is now becoming clear: they can't even meet the hurdles themselves".

So:

Have Europe’s leaders have become obsessed with setting targets and punishments rather than solving the crisis? Or it is "some of Europe's leaders" or is it "Eurozone leaders" or is it "some Eurozone leaders" or is it "Europlus leaders" or most of the conservative (EPP members) leaders? Those I have branded "Euro economic neocons"?

Or is an obsession for setting (often unrealistic) targets that is embedded in the so called "Western culture"?

As per the "punishment" part should one look for understanding in Max Weber's 1905 book "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism"?

Are these obsession held by leaders or whole nations (as part of the national/cultural/philosophical "ID")? Eg which is more relevant and determining a factor in the Fiscal Compact? German "Ordoliberalism" or Weber's book?

Food for thought!

PS. Months ago I wrote that Europe had become a financial analyst's dream.

Seems now that Europe is on the way to becoming a dream for sociologists and psyschologists.
To parahrase Shakespeare's King Richard:
"A couch, a couch, my PM throne for a couch"?
O tempora .....

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