Eideard

Does Europe have too many people paid as political and financial journalists?

Journalists in the main media hall at the European Union summit in Brussels, October 27, 2011.

There are plenty of times everyone feels the European Parliament is roughly akin to a Roman circus. They’re not feeding xhristians to lions or staging phony sea battles in their shiny coliseum – but, the attention paid to the smoke and mirrors that passes for planning, that imitates serious well-thought-out legislation, is as much of a joke as the content of that legislation itself.

Peering in at row after row of people paid to report on these events as a serious record of history somehow reminds me of the scribes covering Roman holidays before the obligatory crucifixions.

I’ll meet you at the Maginot Line

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will thrash out differences with French President Nicolas Sarkozy Sunday over how to use the euro zone’s financial firepower to counter a sovereign debt crisis threatening the global economy.

With the turmoil threatening to spiral into financial meltdown as the value of banks’ sovereign bond holdings slide, Merkel and Sarkozy are likely to discuss in Berlin both how to manage Greece, prevent contagion and strengthen lenders.

The implosion of Belgian lender Dexia, the first victim of the crisis, has added a sense of urgency to the talks…

Germany and France have so far been split over how to recapitalise Europe’s banks, which Ireland estimated Saturday may need more than 100 billion euros to withstand the sovereign debt crisis, while the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said the banks need 200 billion in additional funds.

Paris wants to tap the euro zone’s 440 billion European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) to recapitalise its own banks, while Berlin is insisting the fund should be used as a last resort…

The two euro zone heavyweights have come under pressure worldwide to resolve Europe’s crisis which is roiling markets. U.S. President Barack Obama Thursday urged Europe to “act fast,” calling the common currency bloc’s crisis the largest obstacle to the United States’ own recovery.

World Bank President Robert Zoellick told Wirtschaftswoche magazine there was a “total lack” of vision in Europe and Germany in particular needed to show more leadership.

Assign the cost of “leadership” to the nations who showed the same quality when they allowed the Lehman Brothers-style accounting that brought Greece into the EU in the first place. It would be like turning the bill for the US wars in the Middle East over to the states whose congress-critters voted for them. Or handing the tab for the stimulus programs to the politicians who voted to ease oversight and regulation on mortgage banks and financial traders “because the trickle-down” would create jobs.

Yeah, I know. Ain’t likely any of these happen, right?

France and Germany may effectively run the European Union, but Finland has been demonstrating how even a small country can disrupt their grand designs.

By insisting that it receive collateral from Greece in return for aid, Finland is threatening to upend an agreement that euro zone countries, led by France and Germany, made in July to expand the E.U. bailout fund.

Finland would contribute less than 2 percent of the guarantees provided to the fund, known as the European Financial Stability Facility. But the country’s demands, the subject of intense negotiations in recent days, threaten to derail the fragile consensus that is preventing Greece from defaulting on its debt.

Finland is the most vivid example of the way domestic politics can become Continental problems, threatening the unity of the 17 euro zone members as they face their deepest crisis ever. But Germany, the Netherlands and Austria — all wealthy countries with strong economies — also harbor deep opposition to bailing out Greece, Portugal, Ireland or any other country that may become overwhelmed by debt…

In Finland, Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen faces discontent within his governing coalition as well as pressure from a nationalist opposition group, the True Finns, which rode euro-skepticism to big gains in April parliamentary elections…

Finnish officials say they want to resolve the collateral issue and contribute to the bailout fund. But they are also adamant that the country must receive guarantees.

“We have to listen to the people of Finland,” said a government official, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. “Collateral is an absolute condition for Finland to be involved.”

It is unclear what the collateral might consist of — jokes making the rounds suggest that Greece could pawn the Acropolis or the island of Corfu. And any concessions made to Finland would probably then be demanded by other countries like Austria, where citizens are also grumpy about having to provide tax dollars to support Greece…

They may be jokes to NYTimes writers; but, that was exactly the same response from my favorite banker when we got into a discussion of exactly these fiscal issues — the European Union not being a fiscal union.

Confederacies still haven’t anymore viable economic solutions than they have political solutions. A simple agreement for commerce and currency doesn’t guarantee sound monetary policy for seventeen different economies.