Trouble in Euroland

Whilst this is not good news, it brings confirmation to those who hold the opinion, as I do, that you cannot have a currency without a government. In the context of the Euro, this means not just a Central Bank, but a central Treasury and a central Finance Ministry. This would mean that there was one basic rate of vat, income tax, corporation tax etc all of which revenue would go the financial HQ in Frankfurt, with each country retaining only the local surcharges it may have added to the euro rate. The money would then be re-allocated pro-rata according to the Finance Ministry’s programme, through which all government borrowing would be organised.

Many in the Euro zone see this as the way to go and it would lead to a Federal Europe at the core of the EU very quickly. Those retaining their own currencies (or kicked out of the Euro) would retain a trading relationship, migration of workers, etc, but would be in the outer ring. This is where the UK would be likely to wind up. The inner ring would eventually become a federal republic dominated by a kind of Franco Germany. This would be an industrial as well as a military superpower and would eventually be joined by Russia, which would start in the outer ring. The UK, though in Europe, would  be close to America, Russia  China and India able to move freely between them, even if they did not move so freely with each other.

This is all a long way off, though not as long as one may think. Meanwhile there is worrying news at home. House price inflation has reached over ten per cent. There cannot be economic stability if house prices rise above inflation. Moreover there cannot be economic recovery based upon house price inflation. This is what took us into the abyss in the first place. It is worth noting that the countries in Europe with the biggest problems are the ones which had property as the foundation of their economies.