Double Euro-vision
Jun. 19th, 2012 07:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
steepholmIs anyone else suffering from double Eurovision?
In one version of Europe, Spain and Portgual are bankrupt, Greece is a basket-case, and Italy is dealing with huge amounts of debt. But switch from the Euro to the Euros, and all is utterly changed, especially in the south: Portugal and Italy are formidable nations, Spain bestrides the world, and Greece overthrows Russia. In northern Europe, the changes are smaller: Germany is a power to be reckoned with in both versions, as is France (but rather less so); Holland is a decent but not a major nation; and England's position is, we might say, ambiguous.
Changing from one Europe to the other is usually instantaneous, a kind of cultural code-switching - just as we can happily use the word "Gift" to mean either "present" or "poison". It's a bit like switching between the present and the sixteenth century, where suddenly it seems natural to think of "Spain" as denoting the richest and most powerful country again. But these transpositions leave a kind of Derridean trace, a faintly dissonant (but salutary) reminder of the ultimately contingent nature of things.
In other news, I note that Greece's decision to stay in the Euro was widely reported to have prompted "sighs of relief" across the continent. However, I could have sworn I heard a cry of "Shit!", coming from the general direction of Berlin.
In one version of Europe, Spain and Portgual are bankrupt, Greece is a basket-case, and Italy is dealing with huge amounts of debt. But switch from the Euro to the Euros, and all is utterly changed, especially in the south: Portugal and Italy are formidable nations, Spain bestrides the world, and Greece overthrows Russia. In northern Europe, the changes are smaller: Germany is a power to be reckoned with in both versions, as is France (but rather less so); Holland is a decent but not a major nation; and England's position is, we might say, ambiguous.
Changing from one Europe to the other is usually instantaneous, a kind of cultural code-switching - just as we can happily use the word "Gift" to mean either "present" or "poison". It's a bit like switching between the present and the sixteenth century, where suddenly it seems natural to think of "Spain" as denoting the richest and most powerful country again. But these transpositions leave a kind of Derridean trace, a faintly dissonant (but salutary) reminder of the ultimately contingent nature of things.
In other news, I note that Greece's decision to stay in the Euro was widely reported to have prompted "sighs of relief" across the continent. However, I could have sworn I heard a cry of "Shit!", coming from the general direction of Berlin.
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(no subject)
Date: 2012-06-19 06:22 pm (UTC)Spot the historian..........
(no subject)
Date: 2012-06-20 06:23 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-06-20 06:28 am (UTC);-)
(no subject)
Date: 2012-06-20 08:29 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-06-21 06:35 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-06-20 09:35 am (UTC)Seriously, Germany would not mind if Greece left the Eurozone -- except that the consequences for this would be worse than if it stayed. And yet, Germany doesn't want to make any of the changes necessary for the euro to continue.
I went to a talk by a monetary trader last week. There are a lot of different ways to analyze the situation, but the numbers don't add up any way you look. The overall Eurozone structure has a lot of hidden financial weaknesses of enormous size, too big to solve unless Germany does a complete turnaround. He predicts Greece will leave in September or October, and then a lot of catastrophic things could happen as a result.
On the bright side, Greece plays Germany on Friday night. That will be a grudge match. My newspaper reports that the Greek football fans are chanting things about Merkel that are "unreproducible," and considering what it reproduces regularly without shame, that's got to be bad.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-06-20 06:37 pm (UTC)http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/matt/?cartoon=9340357&cc=9304439
(no subject)
Date: 2012-06-21 09:14 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-06-20 06:36 pm (UTC)16544 I have a question
Date: 2012-08-25 05:14 am (UTC)