Editorials reflect some papers’ covert delight in threat to eurozone’s futureCrisis, chaos, turmoil. Today’s British national newspaper headlines reflect the seriousness of the situation facing the European Union and the eurozone after the referendum vote in Greece. Several of the newspapers also convey the sense of bafflement at what happens next: “Europe faces crisis after gambling Greeks say No” (The Times); “Europe in turmoil as Greeks vote No” (Daily Telegraph); “Greek ‘no’ plunges Europe into crisis” (The Independent); “Greeks vote ‘no’ - Europe shudders (i); and “Greece’s eurozone future hangs in balance as No vote set to triumph” (Financial Times).“Those idealists who once trumpeted the single currency as a way of integrating Europe’s disparate economies and giving them a new collective strength are now sheepishly talking down their hopes and admitting to difficulties. The blame does not lie entirely with Greece — though its Syriza politicians have proved themselves as mendaciously inept as they are clownishly inflexible; it lies in a currency system that has no mechanism for dealing with a country whose fiscal recklessness is far beyond the experience of Brussels negotiators, and whose design provided for no safe exit strategy should things go wrong.”“In truth... no one can foretell what damage the ‘no’ vote will cause. The main effect will be to undermine public trust across the continent in the European Union as an institution capable of dealing with a crisis and the euro as a currency that can meet the needs of the struggling economies on the EU periphery...The euro idealists, especially in Germany, may insist that, even now, Greece must be rescued. But the euro’s users, especially German voters, will increasingly think otherwise.”“Aren’t the real villains the deluded zealots of Brussels who bent the economic figures to allow Greece into the euro in the first place? They dreamed of creating a truly federal Europe. What they have achieved is misery and disaster. Greece can’t pay off its debt mountain. So ditching the euro and going back to the drachma – painful as it will be in the short term – may be its best hope of long-term salvation. “It was utter folly to attempt to link the hugely differing economies of northern and southern Europe and utterly predictable that it would end in catastrophe because there will be many more years for the fallout to continue.”“For Greeks, economic misery will continue; contrary to the Syriza fairy tales, there is no painless remedy to Greece’s problems. As for Mr Tsipras, he may consider himself victorious, but the fact remains that Greece urgently needs a new government – one that is willing to be honest with the country about its problems and their solutions. Now more than ever, Greece deserves better than Mr Tsipras and his party.”“They imagined scared voters rallying to yes, trashing Mr Tsipras’s personal authority and perhaps unravelling his loose-knit Syriza alliance. By signalling that voting no would push Greece out of the euro, they broke all the usual protocols by weighing into someone else’s democratic contest. It was an appallingly presumptuous path to go down.” Continue reading...
 |
| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.theguardian.com |
