I have argued that no country can devote its entire economic policy to maintaining an external marketplace, and yet that is what the existence of the Eurozone demanded of its member states. Of course, they have failed to deliver: that is the whole basis of the current Greek crisis.
Now we have a crisis there is another aspect of the Euro worth noting. When you put a currency at the core of your economic policy you put the bankers in charge. Unsurprisingly as a result the winners from this whole debacle have been the banks.
The losers have been politicians across Europe, who’ve universally shown themselves unable to face up to the demands of those banks, or to have the intellectual capacity to make appropriate decisions when faced with a crisis within their economies.
There should be no surprise to this: neoliberalism has ensured we have an enfeebled breed of politicians who think that anything that they do is bound to result in sub optimal outcomes for those they are meant to serve. Hardly surprisingly they are incapacitated as a result.
What we need is a new breed of politicians who do not live in fear of banks. And they are only likely to come from the left.
9 Responses to “Reflections on Greece – 4 – you can’t have politicians living in fear of banks”
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Exactly. Our so-called political leaders are every bit as brainwashed as much of the media (a case in point: Evan Davies)…
Exactly.
Our so-called political leaders are every bit as brainwashed as much of the media (a case in point: Evan Davies)…their idendikit, tick-the-box education (Oxbridge PPE etc.), ensures an unthinking, uncritical attitude toward mainstream (neoclassical) economics:
“What’s Wrong with Neoclassical Orthodoxy?”, Wolfgang Kasper Emeritus Professor of Economics at the University of New South Wales, Australia
[...] been reflecting on the situation in Greece and have pointed out that much of what is happening is the inevitable consequence of neoliberal [...]
[...] been reflecting on the situation in Greece and have pointed out that much of what is happening is the inevitable consequence of neoliberal [...]
[...] government without taxes by Richard Murphy June 28, 2011 at 9:36 am I’ve been reflecting on the situation in Greece and have pointed out that much of what is happening is the inevitable consequence of neoliberal [...]
“What we need is a new breed of politicians who do not live in fear of banks. And they are only likely to come from the left.”
Oh, so Gordon “I saved the banks/economy/world” Brown was from the right was he?
Yes
A neoliberal to the core
On this I have a different take, perhaps. I don’t see Gordon Brown as a neoliberal to the core, but I agree that he veered some distance rightwards and [naively] bought into neoliberal economics, big-time. His Chancellorship was undoubtedly neoliberal, but he wasn’t nearly as committed to neoliberalism as was Tony Blair.
I think the inevitable crash, when it came, served to wake up Gordon. His changed attitude and policies afterwards saw a turn around in the economy, so much so that the economy crept back into [fragile] growth again in the final months of his premiership.
[...] been reflecting on the situation in Greece and have pointed out that much of what is happening is the inevitable consequence of neoliberal [...]