George Osborne is now talking up Greek exit, having previously criticized loose talk
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Last month, George Osborne criticised loose talk over the prospect of a Greek exit from the eurozone:
“Of course countries have got to make difficult decisions about their public finances. We know that in Britain. But it’s the open speculation from some members of the eurozone about the future of some countries in the eurozone which I think is doing real damage across the whole European economy.”
And yet, speaking at a business event run by The Times yesterday, he appeared to speculate openly on the future of particular eurozone countries:
“I ultimately don’t know whether Greece needs to leave the euro in order for the eurozone to do the things necessary to make their currency survive…
“I just don’t know whether the German government requires Greek exit to explain to their public why they need to do certain things like a banking union, eurobonds and things in common with that.”
Silly old George.
See also:
• Four reasons Britain should stay in the EU 12 June 2012
• “We must all be up to this challenge together”: A new social compact for Europe 8 June 2012
• Eurobonds are about solidarity, which is not Cameron’s strong point 8 June 2012
• Austerity Isn’t Working • Sparpolitik ist keine Lösung • L’austérité ne marche pas 28 May 2012
• Vive Hollande! M. Normal wins the day 8 May 2012
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17 Responses to “George Osborne is now talking about Greek exit, having previously criticized loose talk”
Liberationstation
The bizarre euphoria in the world’s stock exchanges and markets following the results of the Greek elections last week has declined rapidly. Every mover and shaker of capitalist speculation is now pondering their next moves as the European Union totters on the brink of economic melt-down. The mainstream bourgeois parties did succeed in being awarded a minimal victory in Greece’s re-run election. There are still however arduous days of bargaining ahead as the Greek conservative and social-democrat leaders struggle to form a workable coalition hoping to renegotiate the draconian bail-out terms imposed on the country, while maintaining the vicious austerity regime that reduced most Greek workers to abject poverty. It is similar Fitting the Greek economy and the welfare of the people into the bed of Procrustes – the legendary brigand and blacksmith of ancient Attica who offered accommodation to travellers in his one-size-fits-all iron bed, either stretching them or lopping bits off them to ensure a good fit. He was eventually murdered by Theseus.
The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) was the only organisation openly demanding for Greece to pull out of the European Union altogether and the European ruling class were undoubtedly pleased to see the communist vote halved. The European bourgeoisie were also intensely pleased to note that the Greek election was fought almost entirely along the parameters of the debate that continues within the chancelleries of Europe on how to address the economic and social problems that face capitalism in the throes of the biggest slump since the Second World War. Germany, the current manufacturing powerhouse of the EU, is still insisting on its pound of flesh in the form of rigid austerity while the new French government is leaning towards neo-Keynesian social reform that would ease continuous pressure on Greece among other weaker EU economies. The aim is that this would preserve the integrity of the European project and pave the way for a further step towards building the European super-state that Franco-German imperialism believe can become the dominant force of the 21st century. This was the only factor separating mainstream bourgeois parties and the left social-democratic Syriza movement that has now become the biggest opposition bloc in the Greek parliament. New Democracy and the old social-democratic Pasok bloc – the parties that adopted the euro before accepting the terms of the “troika” of the International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and the European Union to remain within the Eurozone – shockingly defended their truly dismal record claiming there was no alternative to austerity. Syriza, the “Radical Left” that never was, argued for the renegotiation of repayment terms and “growth” within the confines of the existing Eurozone and the European Union.
Only the Greek communists, the KKE, took the principled stand of being at the forefront of anti-austerity activism, and against the plutocratic European Union as a whole, unlike the resurgent fascists whose Golden Dawn thugs merely raved against the Albanians and other immigrants, who they have cheerfully scapegoated as the source of all Greece’s woes. Ultimately the contentious argument between “austerity” and “growth” will be decided at next year’s German general elections. If the conservative bloc of Chancellor Merkel’s is toppled by social-democrats and their allies Germany may well initiate an embrace the French response to the crisis. Realistically the “growth” option is a solitary palliative, a “soft landing” to cushion the worst effects of the crisis until the upturn comes. In the meantime proletarians will continue to bear the brunt of the capitalist crisis regardless of whoever is in office, and no more so than in Greece. As the Greek communists say: “The worst is not over; the worst is on the way”.
Liberationstation
I know that some people can be stupidly loyal to opposing anything even resembling a true leftist course, but the harsh truth is that if we are too cowed to even say ‘socialist’ or ‘communist in public then we may never know democracy, because fear of open speech in case of retribution is part and parcel of a totalitarian device.