The Grim reaper returned on Friday 5th August 2011 almost four years to the day it first appeared to strike its boney knuckle on the door of Superstate part 1 & 2.
Should the “Core Vanguard” dump the southern flank to the mercy of the mighty Bond markets which have issued themselves with a license to kill, then this crisis becomes a burning topic about the health of the European family.
The issue is not only about European pensioners who expect to be well cared for in old age, but the realization that money just isn’t there to shoulder this burden of carrying weaker debt ridden states the size of Italy. Transferring cash from wealthy Northern pension funds to large southern pension systems which are just not working properly will test just how much Europe people really believe in.
A painting depicting the Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi hangs in a Rotterdam office August 2011 |
Speaking on the BBC today programme, Former Italian prime minister Romano Prodi said "The weakness of EU institutions is not by chance… the populist mood is becoming more and more strong in Europe." Regarding the crisis in Italy Prodi commented “There is no hope for change while this government is in charge” but then added “and you can’t change the garment in the middle of a storm.” He stressed there was "A problem of power in Europe." "We don't know who is in charge," he told Evan Davis.
Big question is if Greece, Italy and Spain were finally forced out of the Euro family home by Bonders, will it mean northerners seize back their first class citizens status over their poorer southern cousins. Cheaper sunnier places to retire might sound appealing but will they be welcome in the lands they have made newly impoverished. In the end it comes to the old saying “Blood is thicker than Water.” Superstate Europe needs to decide who its blood brothers are.