[p2p-research] Fwd: Open letter to European policymakers: The Greek crisis is a European crisis and needs European solutions

[Michel Bauwens]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Dante-Gabryell Monson <dante.monson at gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Apr 29, 2010 at 9:28 PM
Subject: Open letter to European policymakers: The Greek crisis is a
European crisis and needs European solutions
To: fyeg_green_economy_wg at listen.jpberlin.de
Cc: Joel Wardenga <joelwardenga at gmx.de>, Laura Appeltshauser <
laura.appeltshauser at gruene-jugend.de>, Lívia Magdošková <
magdoskova at yahoo.com>, Rowaa ElHabashy <rowaa.elhabashy at yahoo.co.uk>


Although views and proposed solutions in this letter may not
fundamentally re-question current mainstream economic systems,
the following open
letter<http://www.etui.org/en/Media/Files/Open-letter-to-European-policymakers-The-Greek-crisis-is-a-European-crisis-and-needs-European-solutions/Read-the-open-letter>may
be worth reading...

Perhaps someone on this list can provide a better decryption of the
situation, and of the issues and suggestions ETUI points at through this
letter ?

According to this open letter from ETUI ( European Trade Union Institute ),
as far as I understand, they bring attention to
*"wage and price divergences which are not sustainable within a*
*monetary union where exchange-rate adjustments are no longer possible",*
saying that* "The problem is symmetrical and the solution*
*must be as well."*

Cordially, Dante

pdf:

http://www.etui.org/en/Media/Files/Open-letter-to-European-policymakers-The-Greek-crisis-is-a-European-crisis-and-needs-European-solutions/Read-the-open-letter

http://www.etui.org/en/Media/Files/Open-letter-to-European-policymakers-The-Greek-crisis-is-a-European-crisis-and-needs-European-solutions

excerpts:

*"The problem is symmetrical and the solution*
*must be as well."*

"*Such wage and price divergences are not sustainable within a*
*monetary union where exchange-rate adjustments are no longer possible*. But
this
requires an adjustment from both ends. Wages and prices in Greece and other
countries
need to fall in relative terms, but they must increase faster in Germany,
whose aggressive
wage moderation policies are deflationary, export unemployment and threaten
to explode
the monetary union. This is the only way to rebalance the euro area while
avoiding the
huge risk of a deflationary spiral."

"it is in Europe’s vital interests to resolve the Greek crisis on the basis
of
rising incomes across the continent and to put in place the needed machinery
to cope with
competitive and fiscal imbalances in the future. The future of the euro area
as a whole is
at stake. There is a serious risk of a falling Greek domino knocking over a
series of other
countries. Portugal and other countries now stand where Greece was a few
months ago.
The economic, political and social costs would be enormous. Has Europe
learnt nothing
from the 1920s when Germany was, in many ways, in a similar situation to
Greece
today? Prevented from raising exports to service its foreign debt
(reparations) by
mercantilist policies, Germany embarked on a disastrous course of deflation
and
depression which paved the way for the horrors that followed."

"The Greek crisis is a chance to drive European integration forward to the
benefit of all
Europe’s citizens. But current policies, based on misperceptions of economic
interlinkages and short-sighted and erroneous views on ‘national’ interests,
threaten to
destroy the monetary union, set back European integration and imperil its
economic and
political future. EMU simply cannot go on like this. We call on European
policymakers
to find European solutions that serve the interest of all Europe’s
citizens."



---------- Forwarded message ----------
From:
Date: 2010/4/29
Subject: [gtm] Crise grecque avec réflexions sur le rôle de la BCE et taux
d'intérêts
To: "gtmonnaie at gtmonnaie.be" <gtmonnaie at gtmonnaie.be>


 Bonjour,

*Open letter to European policymakers: The Greek crisis is a European crisis
and needs European solutions
*
http://www.etui.org/fr/Media/Files/Open-letter-to-European-policymakers-The-Greek-crisis-is-a-European-crisis-and-needs-European-solutions

Cette lettre de 3 pages de l’ETUI (European Trade Unions Institute) donne la
lecture de cet organisme sur la crise grecque, ses origines et les remèdes,
avec des réflexions sur la BCE et les taux d’intérêts.

Franco




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