THE FIASCO OF THE EURO AND THE EU ?

The EU has rattled all the policians, British as well as European, at all levels of responsibility, with the problems surrounding the EURO !!!  Jack Straw, the former Labour minister in the Labour Government has gone as far as to declare that the EURO is doomed !!!  Were Tony Blair and Gordon Brown not in place in 2000 to controle the effects of the creation of the EURO ?

It is no good simply to say that Britain did not adopt the EURO !!! The reasons not to abandon the POUND STERLING were overwhelming considering the international importance of the currency worldwide, in particular with respect to the Commonwealth of Nations !!! 

Jack Straw has only identified half of the problems which currently disturb and excite the Politicians in EUROLAND !!!  One must go back at least 12 years or more to ask the eternal question " WHO IN THE EU CONTROLS WHAT AND HOW ?" 

To be even more precise, where are the reports, what action was taken, when and by whom ?  What did the heirarchy do with the reports or were there none ?  One should not be naiive !!!  There is not one Politician from the past who would dare to get involved in answering any such questions !!!

This highlights the problem the EU has today. Everyone has ideals they want to promote.  They have the zeal but no one has the patience, at the same time, to introduce the necessary controls to ensure or maintain success !!!  

When the EURO was introduced, did any highly paid EU financial expert ask himself what the  procedure should be if a country having the EURO became Bankrupt  like Greece is today ?  There is a big difference between providing financial help, compared with underwriting all the debts of a country, which seems to be the current objective of the EU concerning Greece at present !!!

Again the same questions arise. Did any highly paid EU executive verify the solvency of Greece when they joined the EURO ?  Did anyone in the EU Central Bank monitor the "exposed position" (the net of the Payables minus the Receivables) of Greece during recent years ?   If so, whom did he alert to potential problems ?  Would a real expert not have forewarned the Heirarchy that a crisis could be expected ?

Jack Straw has clearly drawn attention to one problem.  There are others which concern the EU as a whole !!!  They are fundamental problems and need urgent attention in  the near future.

The EU has an immigration problem and current practices reveal that there is an "open door" policy where no one really cares who wants to enter the EU. There is a Human Rights Charter which aids criminals but does not protect victims of crime !!!   There are too many expensive Politicians with idealistic ideas but no ideas how to control expenses !!!

Simply said, the EU Charter needs to be revised, but very fundamentally !!!  The sooner the better, but if in fact no one wants to move, some members of the EU will resign !!!  The highly paid bureaucracy costs a lot of taxpayers money but produces little tangible worth !!!       
      

SAVE GREECE FROM BANKRUPTCY ? WHY ?

Huge efforts are being made to save Greece from "Bankruptcy" !!!  Why are President Sarkozy and Angela Merkel multiplying meetings at every turn and everywhere ?

From published figures it seems that their two nations, France and Germany, have the highest exposure, i.e. risk of financial loss, if Greece becomes bankrupt !!!  Is this due to the financial risks that companies in these two countries have taken ?

There is a basic principle of financial common sense which states: "Do not throw good money after bad !!!"  In other words, take the loss on Greece as it is at present !!!   The cost, or loss, should fall where it is !!!  Greece must devalue, readopt the Drachma, and perhaps much later decide to readopt the EURO again as its currency !!!  If the EU is in agreement !!!

Such a decision would oblige the Greeks to take and accept measures which are hard and not popular and which should have been taken a long time ago !!!  Why should everyone in the EU suffer ?

The system of the EURO is flawed !!!  The EURO was created about 12 years ago by idealists who did not realise that a currency needs controls.  Before 17 countries adopted the EURO as their currency, there were 17 Ministers of Finance who were responsible for monitoring the health of the currency of their country. Afterwards this became the responsiblity of the EU !!!  Who in the EU has the ultimate responsibility  to supervise this function ?

The EU now has, officially, three countries with financial problems.  Others are watching in the corridors to decide what will be the best time to profit from EU financial aid !!!  Perhaps this is also an opprtune time to for the EU to introduce and tighten financial controls !!!

President Sarkozy and Angela Merkel must lead the way !!!  The losses from a Greek Bankruptcy should fall where they fall !!! If Bad debts are suffered they should be recorded in the accounts !!!  This in fact would serve as a lesson to all financial institutions, including  particularly, the Banks !!!

      

YES, GB "COULD" LIMIT IMMIGRANTS IF........

To limit immigrants Great Britain must act decicively.  At present British subjects born and bred in the United Kingdom only need a Birth Certificate to prove their right to live in the UK !!!

Alas, things have changed and now immigrants can enter the UK if they were born in an EU country !!!  But there are also immigrants who come from countries outside the EU !!! 

Matters must be clarified and simplified. Any visitor to the EU, should be refused entry if the visitor does not present a valid entry visa, obtainable from a British Embassy or EU embassy before arrival. BEFORE ARRIVAL is the key condition !!!

To formulate principles is easy !!!  Whatever they should be depends on the will of all EU Nations !!!  Will EU politicians take up the Gauntlet ? 

Visitors without the necessary documents should be refused entry and be detained !!!They should then be returned to where they came from.  The cost, in principle, should be borne by the inward transporter !!!   

The theory of all this is simple and good !!!  Alas if no real action is taken, illegal immigrants will continue to arrive in hordes from everywhere !!!

And the Human Rights Organisation will ensure that unwanted immigrants into the EU must be accepted favourably !!!  David Cameron and all the Conservatives cannot alone resolve this problem if no action is taken.  It is not the EU who will act !!!  

The EU no longer leads or acts, it is bogged down by too many "urgent" priorities to have time  to "waste" on   things like illegal immigration into EUROPE !!!

POLITiCIANS AND THE GREEK EURO CRISIS !!!

Is there any politician in Europe anywhere, who would accept now that he was in favour of the creation of the EURO and the way it has been handled  since !!!   But politicians subscribed to the project which was adopted !!!. 

However now that the EURO is facing a real crisis, namely the Greek inability to repay its external creditors, the Leaders of EU countries are clutching at straws to avoid the inevitability of Greece becoming a typical example of someone who has lost control of his finances.  Who can or wants to save a Bankrupt ?

The hidden problem is that no one in the EU can be accused of not having done his job !!!  The job was to monitor the level of overspending by Greece and the effect of this overspending on the ability of Greece to finance its balance of payments !!!

The latest proposals are that the Creditors of Greece, the companies which have receivable accounts, should bear a part of the cost of refinancing Greece !!!

This is a typical proposal by current politicians to put off the inevitable reality that Greece will become Bankrupt !!!
  
What should Greece do now ?  Should it not readopt the former currency of the country, the drachma and then declare that all foreign currency debts must have a Drachma equivalence !!!

The next step would be to devalue the Drachma, which would have the same effect on foreign currency payables !!!   The net result would be that EU politicians would get off the hook !!!  They could plead that they were not responsible for such a solution !!!

Who would suffer ?  Not the current Politicians !!!  Only the Taxpayers because companies will, of course and quite rightly, write-off currency losses on debts in their accounts !!!

This Blog can only wait and see !!!  Your comments on other solutions would be welcomed !!! 

TRADE UNIONS SHOULD BE RESPONSIBLE !!!

There is something very wrong when Trade Unions in Britain can call a Wild Cat Strike, when someone somewhere has suffered a wrong !!!  Wild Cat Strikes are a scourge of normal business life.  When issues escalate it strikes at the very existence of a company !!!

Running a profitable Company means being very competitve at very step.  Shopfloor workers must work, hard, just like managers !!!  Nothing falls into their laps just like that !!!

When will Trade Unions understand, once and for all, that when a company makes losses,  it cannot expand !!!   It cannot save jobs !!!  The company may need more than just strikes or finance ?   It may need real help from its workers who are about to face  unemployment and subsequent poverty !!!

Workers must understand and Trade Unions must understand, like Management, that running a company, which is a business, needs respect, support and help !!! 


Should Trades Unions and the Prime Minister not get together to hammer out a mutual understanding which recognises each others rights ?  Which of our numerous Ministers or Parliamentarians, could undertake such a task ?

This Blog ignores what has been achieved on all these issues by American Trade Unions !!!  The impression is, however, that Unions in the USA have adopted a more responsible attitude when a company faces liquidation.

All these matters require to be discussed !!!  There is also another very important issue !!!   Should all Trade Unions not have a limited right to call an outright Strike ?
To organise this could be complicated. The basic right to strke must be preserved.

Quite right !!!  It, and all else, would be complicated !!!  The whole issue should not be viewed subjectively.  Each humble participant should see the wider picture and  ask:  What can I do to improve the life of British Citizens ?

SIR ALEX AND M.U. ?

Manchester United were thoroughly beaten by Barcelona in the Champions League Final. One could plead that it was because the Manchester players were "old and over the hill" !!!

Perhaps so, because Sir Alex is again in the transfer market with his Cheque Book to replace leading old players for next season !!!  Everyone is watching !!!  Few home bred players make it into the M.U. first team.  Home bred players are farmed out to other teams on loan to gain experience.  This is a cheaper way to find out if they could make the grade !!!

If MU show any interest in a player in the home leagues the cost of buying the player immediately spirals.  This is also true if a player abroad is targeted !!! 

The real question is who is at fault in the M U set-up ?  The players or the manager ? Sir Alex does an admirable job, and has history behind him !!!  However, was it not the sparkling performance of the Barcelona Team that defeated Sir Alex'es  M U team ?

Should not the M U management be looking to sign the Barcelona manager, Guardiola ?  Should it not be Guardiola who should be deciding which players need to be signed ?  Out with the old and in with the young !!!