It looks like we are entering the end of Merkel-ism in Europe. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is approaching her final days in that position.
Be it next week or the end of this year, we are looking at unprecedented change in European politics thanks to Merkel’s insistence on taking in millions of Syrian and North African refugees from chaos unleashed by aggressive and insane foreign policy actions by the U.S. and supported by the EU.
From the destruction of Libya to the manufactured ‘civil war’ in Syria the displacement of millions of people was created from the desired to destabilize the entire region for the betterment of the U.S. and its allies in the region, Saudi Arabia and Israel. Jordan, Turkey and Qatar were originally involved but have since jumped ship in the wake of Russia’s intervention there.
Merkel’s current plight politically stems from her intractability in accepting the chain of events that led us to this point. All of the problems of Europe now stem from the collision of these foreign policy disasters and the economic degradation of the euro-zone from the flawed structure of the euro itself.
And the insistence of the U.S./Saudi/Israeli alliance to continue trying to manufacture a win in Syria that is clearly beyond their control at this point only tightens the noose around Merkel’s neck.
Let me explain.
Simply put, there is a perfect storm now arising in Europe as the consequences of a number of policies converge into this period of time. They are as follows:
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Having each country maintain a separate central bank to issue sovereign debt denominated in euros is the main culprit for enriching Germany and the northern bloc like the Netherlands and Holland and impoverishing much of the rest of Europe — Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece, to name a few.
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This mispriced the risk of these loans by implying a German backstop to them via the ECB and the Bundesbank.
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As the euro rose in the 2000’s the value of the debt these countries issued skyrocketed in real value, destroying their fiscal situation and forcing debt restructuring which kicked the can down the road.
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The Troika of the IMF, the ECB and the EU, led by Germany, forced new loans on these countries with ‘easy terms’ to pay off the old loans but never fixed the underlying problem because, well, Keynesianism.
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To obtain this ‘relief’ from the Troika these countries had to accept onerous and politically unpopular ‘austerity’ measures which targeted budget deficits without reforming the euro to achieve any kind of growth.
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This fueled the rise of populism across Europe which began stirring with early strong returns from Five Star Movement in...