tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761684730989137546.post6466628258642518938..comments2024-03-29T09:32:34.853-04:00Comments on Mike Norman Economics: Steve Keen — Brussels-Rome war: EU holds back Italy’s anti-euro tide for nowmike normanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03296006882513340747noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761684730989137546.post-81485868266358551922018-05-29T15:16:31.442-04:002018-05-29T15:16:31.442-04:00.
PART 2 of 2
The Troika is terrified of an alter....<br /><b>PART 2 of 2</b><br /><br />The Troika is terrified of an alternative currency in Italy, since Italy is far more self-sufficient than Greece, for example. <br /><br /><b>STEVE KEEN:</b> <i> “An alternative-means-of-payment is a much more cogent weapon in Italy’s hands than it would have been in Greece’s. Italy’s economy is six times larger than Greece’s, and average salaries are almost double (though per-capita income has fallen substantially since the global financial crisis). Italy’s economy, particularly in the north, is an industrial powerhouse; and its climate supports a huge range of agricultural products. Much more of what Italians need to buy can be purchased from other Italians than was ever feasible for Greece.”</i><br /><br />Plus, Italy has a trade surplus, as I noted above.<br /><br /><b>STEVE KEEN:</b> <i> “The Maastricht Treaty’s pact…was really a decision to hand over money creation to private banks.”</i><br /><br />That’s the euro-scam in a nutshell. The Maastricht Treaty did to the Eurozone what many people erroneously think was done to the UK and USA. That is, many people think that all dollars are created by the Fed and by private banks as loans. Banks do indeed create most of the money in US / UK circulation, but the U.S. government also creates money; about $4 trillion a year out of thin air. The U.S. government does not borrow that $4 trillion, and does not distribute that $4 trillion as loans. Food Stamps and Social Security benefits, for example, are not loans. Recipients are not required to pay those benefits back as loans (although Social Security benefits are taxable).<br /><br /><b>STEVE KEEN:</b> <i> “The euro project was driven far more by politics and naive economics than it was by financial imperatives.”</i><br /><br />Right again. <br /><br />Then Steve Keen fumbles the ball…<br /><br /><b>STEVE KEEN:</b> <i> “Under the Maastricht Treaty, Italians had only one source for new money: borrowing from the private banks.”</i><br /><br />Only one source? No. The Italian trade surplus brings an average of 4 billion euros each month from abroad. (Germany collects an average of 20 billion euros each month from abroad.) That income is not loans. The portion of that income that consists of euros was originally created as loans, but Italy and Germany didn’t borrow those euros. Some other country borrowed those euros (e.g. Greece) and then paid them (not <i>lent</i> them) to Italy and Germany. <br /><br /><b>STEVE KEEN:</b> <i> “The real villains of this crisis are the euro itself and the Maastricht Treaty.” </i><br /><br />No. The real villains are corrupt European politicians who surrendered their nations to the Maastricht Treaty, and thus to Troika tyranny.Konradhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01739209449391854796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761684730989137546.post-3191527125623892752018-05-29T15:13:01.974-04:002018-05-29T15:13:01.974-04:00.
PART 1 of 2
Italy had its chance for freedom, ....<br /><b> PART 1 of 2</b><br /><br />Italy had its chance for freedom, but lost it to political divisiveness among the new government.<br /><br />Let’s go over some quick facts…<br /><br />If your nation has a trade surplus, then the euro currency gives you advantages. You can trade with other euro-zone nations without going into debt. You can suck other nations dry if they use the euro, and if they have trade deficits. <br /><br />If, however, your nation has a trade <b><i>deficit,</i></b> then the euro will destroy your nation, as it destroyed Greece, and is slowly destroying France. <br /><br />Italy has had a trade <b>surplus </b> since mid-2012. Each month an average of 4 billion more euros flow into Italy than out of Italy. Therefore Italy does not have to beg for loans from the Troika, and does not have to pay back loans by surrendering public assets to Troika cronies. Therefore Italy can start experimenting with an alternative currency. And right now is a good time, since Italy’s economy is strongest during the summer months, especially July. Italy could have one currency for domestic use, and the euro for foreign trade.<br /><br />Unfortunately the new Italian government remains divided and deadlocked, and therefore subservient to the Troika (meaning the IMF, plus the European Commission in Brussels, and the European Central Bank in Frankfurt). Since the Troika’s power comes from the euro, the Troika does not want any Eurozone nation to experiment with alternative currencies. <br /><br />Italian President Sergio Mattarella is a neoliberal who is a pro-Troika, and pro-euro. Mattarella has been working with the Troika to keep Italy’s new government deadlocked. The Troika does not want unity between the Northern League and the Five Star Movement, since both parties oppose the Troika. <br /><br />In fact, the Troika's little servant (President Sergio Mattarella) has announced that he will soon appoint a “neutral government” of his own choosing (i.e. of the Troika’s choosing). President Mattarella vetoed the appointment Paolo Savona as finance minister, since Savona is an Italian nationalist who opposes the Troika. <br /><br />Yesterday Mattarella appointed Carlo Cottarelli to start making plans to have a new general election, which will be rigged in favor of the Troika.<br /><br />Today Mattarella appointed that same Carlo Cottarelli as acting Prime Minister. Mr. Cottarelli comes straight from the Troika itself, having been a director of the IMF. (His wife is a manager with the infamous World Bank.) <br /><br />Continued below...Konradhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01739209449391854796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761684730989137546.post-21358552386032311502018-05-29T07:04:33.571-04:002018-05-29T07:04:33.571-04:00“Though the differences are tiny, over the two dec...“Though the differences are tiny, over the two decades since the euro began, Italy has become 10 percent less competitive with Germany. That’s a handicap that could easily be corrected by a 10-percent devaluation of the lira against the deutschmark. Unfortunately, such an option doesn’t exist today.”<br /><br />Yeah unfortunately for Germany’s Deutschebank...<br /><br />Keen has largely been discredited by Bill in the area of National income accounting...<br />Matt Frankohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11978352335097260145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761684730989137546.post-53178711915432845082018-05-29T06:48:50.575-04:002018-05-29T06:48:50.575-04:00Yves Smith starting to get a clue about the need f...Yves Smith starting to get a clue about the need for an additional, risk-free, always-liquid payment system, i.e. accounts for all citizens at the Central Bank itself and the abolition of all other privileges for the banks, credit unions, etc.? <br /><br /><i>I find it hard to get excited about stock market risks <b>unless defaults on the borrowings can damage the banking/payments system, as they did in the Great Crash.</b></i> Yves Smith [bold added] from <a href="https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2018/05/stock-market-borrowing-time-high-increasing-risk-downdrafts.html" rel="nofollow">Stock Market Borrowing at All Time High, Increasing Risk of Downdrafts</a>Andrew Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14296407661618321637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761684730989137546.post-5157166776832361622018-05-29T06:38:37.229-04:002018-05-29T06:38:37.229-04:00If a genuine left can't rise to the occasion, ...<i> If a genuine left can't rise to the occasion, Mussolini anyone? </i> Tom Hickey<br /><br />Until we have ethical fiat and credit creation, we can expect endless oscillation between the ethically clueless Left and the ethically clueless Right.<br /><br />Not that ethical fiat and credit creation is necessarily sufficient at this point; asset redistribution may also be necessary - to provide restitution.Andrew Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14296407661618321637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761684730989137546.post-50328131682180844542018-05-29T06:28:54.778-04:002018-05-29T06:28:54.778-04:00“As the rebel British economist Wynne Godley state...“As the rebel British economist Wynne Godley stated ”<br /><br />He was hardly a “rebel”... Matt Frankohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11978352335097260145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761684730989137546.post-11416852668551468072018-05-28T23:29:37.072-04:002018-05-28T23:29:37.072-04:00His conclusion is
Brussels has blocked this [Leavi...His conclusion is<br /><i>Brussels has blocked this [Leaving the euro] for today, but the odds of it happening in the near future have risen dramatically thanks to Mattarella’s veto of Savona.</i><br /><br />That's what I guessed and hope too. I think the MMTers should hold some rock concerts in Italy. <br /><br />Eurozone delenda est.Calgacushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06031818010224747000noreply@blogger.com