Euro

Germany’s most important decision for this year will not be made by its people in general elections but by eight judges in red robes. And that makes it worth paying attention to this rather obscure and complicated law case.

Regardless of his actual reasons, Oettinger was simply right in his analysis – as indeed evidenced by the Commission’s very own policy recommendations to member states. Europe needs major reforms to get its existential problems under control.

If I were a cynic, I would now be predicting the next European bailout recipient. And the winner is… Slovenia! But how would I know?

This euro crisis is more than just a monetary crisis. It is way deeper than that. It really is just another episode in the epic battle of government against the markets. Typically it’s the markets that win in the long run.

The Bundesbank and the German constitutional court are confronting and challenging the ECB, and such a conflict cannot just be moderated away. Eventually, the Germans will need to come clear on where they want to take the eurozone.

It is high time for the Europeans to make a choice. Do they prefer a painful end to euro, or do they want endless euro pain?

It is evident that the euro does not work. It is even clearer that the policies to save it are a complete and utter failure. So why are the Europeans still putting up with a perma-crisis instead of sending their political leadership into collective early retirement?

Watching the ALP’s strange attempts to solve its leadership crisis last week, it appeared that Coalition strategists could not have written a better script. There is only one consolation for Labor: When it comes to self-destruction, nothing beats the European Union.