I am not holding my breath

Monday 21st May

Common sense may prevail one day, but I am not holding my breath.  We are on the brink of momentous decisions being made in the Eurozone, with the possibility of the collapse of the entire edicice, of a decade of decline in what has to date been by far the most exciting and creative continent on earth, the fate of millions of young people all over Europe hangs in the balance and the politicians seem to bumble along as if the G8 was a weekend jolly for old mates at Margate.  There seems to be no real sense of urgency, just a lot of platitudes from our leaders. They said that they all want a stable currency with tight fiscal rules but an agenda for growth too.  As if the two were old bedchums all along, and the Tories do actually purport to believe this.  They might as well have said they wanted Apple Pie covered with rich creamy Curry Sauce.   It seems as if they were all far more interested in being part of the group photograph than in coming up with any sort of an answer.  The Germans look as if they are waiting for the result of the Greek election, hoping against hope that a pro-austerity coalition will somehow miraculously appear.  Cameron never looked as if he was really serious anyway, and Barack Obama just appears to be too nice.  Do they not realise that the old sticking plasters will not even cover the wounds anymore, let alone start to heal them.  But the markets will not wait, and what they hate most is uncertainty.  If Germany had said unequivocally that Greece would not be leaving the Euro then at least we would have known they were serious.  So, I fear that any decision has once again been shelved, maybe because it is so difficult to actually come up with the obvious solution.  Greece must be both saved and reformed, not punished for earlier mistakes; the rich must pay their taxes, the politicians must be honest, and the banks must be controlled and run for the benefit of the people and not for a few shareholders.  The same must be true for Spain and Italy too.  And the Eurozone must move towards a single United States of Europe, maybe some sort of Federation but with the same taxes, and the same benefits throughout.  It is just commonsense, and it must break out one day, but I am not holding my breath.