Will Europes Rigidity Lead to Its Downfall?

Discussion in 'The Red Room' started by Aenea, Aug 22, 2016.

  1. Aenea

    Aenea .

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    http://www.businessinsider.com/joseph-stiglitz-on-italy-collapse-and-the-end-of-the-euro-2016-8

    I put this here as I wanted actual thoughts without the inevitable hatred that is prevalent in the Red Room these days.

    Basically Italy's latest problems were out weighed by Britain's Brexit and didn't see as much coverage. Now people are looking past Britain to Italy and it's Senate reconstruction and Italy's banking system is fucked.

    So as the title asks is this guy right could Italy's referendum ( ? ) lead to Europes downfall.
  2. K.

    K. Sober

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    What does 'downfall' mean in this context?
  3. El Chup

    El Chup Fuck Trump Deceased Member Git

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    It's when @Dinner retreats to his secret bunker and commits suicide...
  4. mburtonk

    mburtonk mburtonkulous

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    Green room.
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  5. El Chup

    El Chup Fuck Trump Deceased Member Git

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    No, definiteley in a bunker. :yes:
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  6. K.

    K. Sober

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    [​IMG]
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  7. RickDeckard

    RickDeckard Socialist

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    What Stiglitz is saying is, or ought to be, uncontroversial from an economic standpoint. It's the politics that gets in the way.
  8. El Chup

    El Chup Fuck Trump Deceased Member Git

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    Gets in the way of what?
  9. RickDeckard

    RickDeckard Socialist

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    Doing the things necessary to fix it.
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  10. Aenea

    Aenea .

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    I do believe he was saying the EU would break up.
  11. K.

    K. Sober

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    I wonder. Frankly. the article seems very unclear to me on this and several other points. It says he expects a 'cataclysm', but then he further describes it as being 'like Brexit', which, while a bad thing, isn't really cataclysmic. It's also already technically the EU breaking up. I really think it's too simplistic -- probably not Stiglitz' but the journalists' fault.

    As for the 'rigidity', we're already loosening the financial rules the article alludes to. So if we go through a cataclysm, it can't be for that reason.
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  12. Aenea

    Aenea .

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    Those were the kind of things I was wondering about, thank you.
  13. Dinner

    Dinner 2012 & 2014 Master Prognosticator

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    Currently they have a lost decade and very little in the way of free market reforms to correct theunderlaying problem have been proposed much less enacted.
  14. Dinner

    Dinner 2012 & 2014 Master Prognosticator

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    Or at least the Euro would get tossed by some countries.
  15. K.

    K. Sober

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    Yes, but one, that too has already happened, and two, he then goes on suggesting dropping the euro as a solution!
  16. Dinner

    Dinner 2012 & 2014 Master Prognosticator

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    Thay would at least allow countries to tailor monitary policy to their needs. The problem is they would just constantly use monitary easing while ignoring structural reforms because such things are unpopular even if badly needed. Just look how extremely modest reforms went over like Rio's poop water for water sports idea.
  17. El Chup

    El Chup Fuck Trump Deceased Member Git

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    Well yes, I understood that much. :facepalm:

    I'm asking which methods of "fixing it" you have in mind.
  18. RickDeckard

    RickDeckard Socialist

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    Read the article.
  19. El Chup

    El Chup Fuck Trump Deceased Member Git

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    I have. It discusses no detailed fix. It just discusses what may come to pass. That's why I am asking you about. Or perhaps you can refer to the parts of the article that you think amout to proposals for a fix? And what are we talking about fixing here? Just the Eurozone or the EU's economic health, euro or otherwise? Or even the EU as a structure?
  20. RickDeckard

    RickDeckard Socialist

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    Sorry, for some reason I thought we were referring to this article.
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  21. El Chup

    El Chup Fuck Trump Deceased Member Git

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    No, I thought we were referring to the article the OP linked to, which talks of an interview with Business Insider.

    I'll read the new link.
  22. Aenea

    Aenea .

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    Thank you for the article.

    Now can anyone explain in an economics for dummies way what exactly all 7 mean. :P

    I'm not an idiot, but I understand Physics a lot easier. :lol: Like austerity, I'm not even sure what they mean. :P
  23. K.

    K. Sober

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    Thanks, that's a lot more concrete. I really don't disagree with any of this; but with the possible exception of #4, it's all stuff that is already discussed in many places and partially implemented. The devil, in any case, will be in the details. Not only does that not fit the idea that Europe will fail because of its rigidity -- it's flexibly discussing just these changes --, but in fact it makes it very unlikely that Europe will fail due to one huge problem at all. It's more like a To Do List.