My Take: More than two years ago in March 2010 I wrote the following.
What is truly ironic about the whole mess we find ourselves in is that it seems the greatest fear of those that want to just keep pushing forward on the prior economic model that totally died in 2008 but has been resuscitated briefly by the printing of monopoly paper is that the world will move away from globalization into more isolated and potentially aggressive nation-states. The irony is that by doing what they have done they are not going to stop that progression but rather will make that outcome that much more extreme once it ultimately presents itself. The whole crisis in Greece has made me learn a lot more about the European Union and its origins. Many Americans may not realize it but one of the primary objectives (if not the primary objective) of those that first envisioned it was to create a peaceful economic union that would put an end to the prior history or warring nation-states. What is most interesting and concerning about the current situation is that growing populations across Europe seem to be increasingly skeptical and hostile to what is being seen as an undemocratic European Commission.
In any event, as can be seen by some of the nasty World War II commentary and other rhetoric from various politicians in Greece and Germany, large political blocs are indeed fragmenting and nation-states are reemerging in an anti-globalization push. Ironically, while the current policies being implemented are trying to stem this tide I think they will in fact make it much worse once the policies are seen as an abject failure.
So now in 2012 we are finally starting to see in earnest a political backlash against the status quo (in this case Merkozy) in one of the most important nations in Europe. What we have also seen in recent elections throughout the continent are better than expected showings by “radical” parties on both the right and left. This trend will continue. There was an option in 2008. Let the failures fail and the elite suffer the pain of their bad bets. Rather, they were bailed out and the taxpayers were sold out. This is not going away. Social and political tensions now will increase exponentially. The European Union itself has become its framers’ worst nightmare. Their actions will fragment the continent into even smaller pieces as things gradually become localized.
Read my full piece from March 2010 titled: Bureaucracy Gone Wild and the Return of Nation-States
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