Niall Ferguson explains why what happens in Europe is both our problem and a preview of what is ahead for us:
Europe’s Disaster Is Headed Our Way
As an author who has just published a book on the crisis of Western civilization, I couldn’t really have asked for more: simultaneous crises in Athens and Rome, the cradles of the West’s law, languages, politics, and philosophy.
Yet most Americans are baffled by the ongoing economic pandemonium in the European Union. For them, places like Greece and Italy are primarily tourist destinations they’ll visit at most once. The finer points of Mediterranean politics leave them cold, except insofar as they’re funny. After all, who could resist the opera-buffa character of Silvio “Bunga-Bunga” Berlusconi?
But only a few weirdos really feel their pulses quicken when they hear news like: the new Greek prime minister is a former central banker called Papademos! Ever tried to explain to a New Yorker the finer points of Slovakian coalition politics? I have. He almost needed an adrenaline shot to come out of the coma.
So why should Americans care about any of this? The first reason is that, with American consumers still in the doldrums of deleveraging, the United States badly needs buoyant exports if its economy is to grow at anything other than a miserably low rate. And despite all the hype about trade with the Chinese, U.S. exports to the European Union are nearly three times larger than to China.
Until March, it seemed … [Read complete article]
That was the most clear and well written article I have read in a long time with a touch of personality. Brevity is the sign of genius and in one fell swoop you hit the nail squarely on the head. It will be interesting to see how all this plays out in society. We all can see financially where things are headed.
The author is absolutely correct. American citizens are collosally ignorant when it comes to matters of finance and gov’t (well, most things in facat thanks to our Dept of Edcucation).
Think they know that the Obamugabe administration is OWNED by Goldman Sachs and half his cabinet members are former Goldman Sachs employees and/or board members? Think the Occucrappers know the Obamugabe administration was the biggest recipient of Wall St. dollars in US history? Think the average citizens knows the newly appointed Italian president was a Goldman Sachs board members or that the head of the European Central Bank was a Goldman Sachs board member?
Ask them how many boyfriends Snooky has had in the past 18 months, and what color her toenail polish is. They know that.
We will get what we have coming. I am prepared.