Europeans must now grasp this nettle!

"It is extremely important that everything is commensurate to the dimension of the challenges," Trichet told journalists at the European American Press Club in Paris, according to Reuters this Friday morning, linked here.

 Reuters report continues "Trichet said that applied to governments' fiscal policies, structural reform and the "collegial collective action that we might have including through the stabilisation fund."

Trichet also said the main lesson of the crisis was the need to strengthen governance, speaking as Spain renewed calls for closer integration of economic policy.

"From our point of view, the main lesson ... is obviously that it is necessary to reinforce the governance of the euro zone countries and of Europe in general,"  he said.

The question that all citizens of the EU should face up to and confront this weekend is in my view best summarised as - "The Euro OR national democracy and independence".

Opting to continue the fight to preserve the Euro currency requires, more debt, more behind closed door decision making and deceit, ever less democracy, ever more regulation, increasing distrust between neighbouring European countries and potentially far, far worse. 

We Europeans cannot bury our heads in the sand any longer, this crisis affects us all and will continue to do so and also most probably impact our children and grand-children for years. We must make our nationally elected politicians aware of our concerns and fears, they are presently apparently paralysed by knowledge of the true depths of the abyss upon whose edge we are poised or ignorant of the obvious and glaring realities. 

Either Jean-Claude Trichet and his backers are victorious and totalitarianism is returned to Europe or we step back, rationally and calmly disband the Euro currency and the corrupted EU institutions and try to make a fresh start towards open trade and free movement of people. 

No sane nor rational people would construct the EU as it is today, nor invest one single centime nor penny of their own money on a construct as dodgy as the present common currency of the Euro!  National leaders, possibly blinded by fears over the futures of their own national banks, should be forced to confront such plain and obvious realities. 

Did Trichet blink or con the markets once again?

Bloomberg asks the first part of the question in this post's headline, linked here. The second part is my alternative view.

What the markets fail to understand, and what to me also makes the first question pointless, is that the ECB chief has no cards left to play. Only Germany and Germans can take over the debts of the Euro and relaunch it as DM2 with all economic control over the other 26 ex-nations of the EU then falling into German hands. Do those calling for virtually any measures to save the common euro currency really wish this outcome?

The disintegration of the Euro Currency, would however be comparatively simple, though of course not painless, as is discussed in the Analysis linked here. The following is some excerpts with some of the main points:

The disparities between the eurozone economies stretch from budget deficits to economic fundamentals and from current account surplus/deficits to unemployment....

With parts of the union drifting in diverging directions, the future of the bloc is not all that rosy indeed. 

Though for most policy makers the break-up of the currency union has been an unthinkable eventuality, there are more people now talking about the elephant in the room.

Analysts have pointed out that the legal barriers, political aftermaths and the economic repercussions of a break-up, or an opting out of the union, are not insurmountable.

The coming EU aftermath based upon the latest Wikileaks

According to Wikileaks, President Sarkozy is the 'Emperor with no clothes', while Sivio Berlusconi is 'Feckless, vain and ineffective as a modern European leader' both quotes linked here, so what conclusions can we draw as to the future course for the crumbling EU following the widespread hikes of EU yields on yesterday's bond markets following the detail of the planned extended crucifiction of the Irish people?

Angela Merkel, the German leader, 'is the "undisputed" leader of the EU because no other European leader is man enough for the role', here, yet elsewhere she is described as being entirely concerned with domestic politics. Both indications that we must now look towards Berlin for the next moves in the EU unravelling.

Constitutionally Germany was already on thin ice over deep water with the Irish bailout coming after the Greek exception. Now with Portugal, Belgium, Spain, Italy and eventually even France facing excessive interest costs these latter basket cases will certainly prove far too much for any political party seeking election in Germany in the foreseeable future to try to help, even if aided by Finland, Austria and Holland and charging ever higher interest rates (approaching usary levels) which now seem to be in view.

Naturally Britain, with its pathetic and enfeebled leadership, will play no part as these great and momentous events unfold, we can only await with interest to learn how accurate are the US diplomatic descriptions of our craven, self-serving and thoroughly despicable political leaders!