WHAT UNION?

We could, in addition, ask the question, What G8? It is difficult to make any judgement on a group of
so-called world leaders, spending their weekend papering over the cracks.

The early response from initial talks was a comment from President Obama, along the lines of growth coupled with constraint. Finally, it was decided on growth alone, whatever that means. Should it mean even more borrowing? Chancellor Merkel could never agree to that, and quite rightly so. The French, on the other hand, have made the decision, socialist style; live eat and be merry, and let the devil take the hindmost.

Observers of the shambles that is Europe, and the Eurozone in particular, will understand that the Union cannot survive with differing philosophies. The Germans, whose forebears learned the lessons of financial melt-down between the two world wars, and the rules never change. Living beyond one's means is futile. Other nations, nevertheless, refuse to be bound by such strict rules. France, in particular, whilst facing major problems in it's banking system, has a new socialist president advocating a reduction in the retirement age, plus a large increase in the state sector jobs, all on borrowed money. Even Holland is weakening, with a view to borrowing more; hoping for a miracle down the line.

Sweden on the other hand, under the guiding hand of Anders Borg, their right of centre Finance Minister, is making inroads into the nation's welfare dependency. The Finns are also showing some signs of more responsibility. We are due to visit family in Denmark shortly, where I'll be taking another look at their extremely expensive system of socialism.


BEWARE OF EXTREME FACTIONS EMERGING.