When I was in Europe recently, I had interesting discussions about the future of Italy, Greece and Spain with various people, particularly in relation to trying to understand the apparent dissonance between the strong support for the euro and the devastation that membership of the common currency has created in these countries. It is, of course, a very complex issue that goes well beyond economics (as most things do). I formed two alternative views from what I was heard from those on the so-called progressive side of the debate. Either they are kidding themselves or that they have crafted a plan to force Germany (mainly) to break up the currency union. The alternative scenarios was also quite distinct along national lines with Italians more likely to be in the former group and Greeks in the latter group, although my sample sizes were relatively small.

We had news this week that the annual rate of real GDP growth in Greece is finally positive after two quarters of positive growth. The austerity merchants are out in force congratulating themselves on a victory. Some victory. What the official data doesn’t publish are the long-term implications of the Depression that Greece has been locked in for the last six years. I look at that question in this blog (a little). Further, despite the claims by the European Commission and the lackies that it relies on to spread its distorted economic news that Greece has achieved a primary fiscal surplus, nothing is further from the truth. The fact is that the Greek fiscal deficit expanded considerably last year and despite all the austerity is still pumping public euros into the Greek economy and therefore supporting growth. The slight return to growth is not a victory for fiscal austerity but a demonstration that if large deficits are maintained for long enough growth will eventually rear its head.

The alternative title for today could have been my award to the Euro elites for the title as Champions of Europe – for their consistent record-breaking feats – month after month – the unemployment rate rises. Eurostat reported on Monday (July 1, 2013) that – Euro area unemployment rate at 12.2% – up from 11.3 per cent in May 2012. That is an additional 1.4 million workers out of work in the 12 months. Unemployment is nearly reaching 20 million in the Eurozone. 3.5 million under 15s are now unemployed in the Eurozone (23.9 per cent up from 23 per cent in May 2012). Youth unemployment stands at 59.2 per cent in Greece, 56.5 per cent in Spain and 42.1 per cent in Portugal (and rising in all three nations). Talk about leaving a legacy for our grandchildren. Anyway. I thought I might just refresh my understanding of the Greek data today and ask some questions. What comes out is that Christmas is in decline in Greece – at least in a material sense. Which would be good if it was for the right reasons – that is, a renewed enlightenment towards non-material values. The problem is that it reflects a devastated economy being overseen by some bullies who not only fail in their own jobs but also want to make sure millions do not actually have jobs. The question (and there are a multitude of ways we could ask this) is Why?

There was a article in the UK Guardian yesterday (May 21, 2013) – No, Argentina is not a ‘cautionary tale’ for the eurozone. The basic tenet of the article, written by a Greek journalist is that there is no applicable analogy that can be drawn between the experience of Argentina during its crisis in 2001-2002 and the current crisis in Greece. The author rejects any attempts to draw a comparison because Greece would have to introduce a new currency and this would mean no-one would agree to hold it and this would prevent Greece from purchasing essential imports. The author claims that all Argentina had to do was break a pegged arrangement. My view expressed in this blog is that while there are technical differences in the way the monetary system would change in Greece if it abandoned the Euro and what happened in Argentina, the similarities between the two cases are greater. There is an applicable analogy and it scares those who want to hang onto the Euro at all costs.

It is a public holiday in Australia today like everywhere. So this is a relatively short blog. In the last week, the tiny nation of Cyprus has committed itself to a path that will see it stagnate for years to come and real living standards will fall. It will lose its banking sector and will find it hard to stimulate its tourism sector given it is unable to alter its exchange rate. Domestic wages and costs will have to fall dramatically before there will be any significant stimulus to tourism. The government is unable to support domestic demand growth because the Troika will not let them increase their discretionary budget deficits. And sooner or later some German or another will start demanding they sell their island to pay their bills (remember Greece). In other words, they are following the Greek path to destructive oblivion. Apparently this is because there is no better alternative. The Euro elites have spent a lot of effort telling everyone that there is no alternative to harsh austerity and the destruction of another economy. But for anyone who keeps their eyes on the data you will know that there is an alternative. A small island state – Iceland – issues its own currency and allowed their exchange rate to move with relative currency demand has emerged damaged but not in Depression. The vital signs in Iceland are positive.

Last Friday (March 9, 2012), the Greek government effectively defaulted on its public debt after the required minimum of 75 per cent of private creditors agreed to the so-called “haircut” or debt swap. I find it amusing how the Euro leaders have attempted to massage the default as a debt swap or some other euphemism. The facts are obvious – close to 100 per cent of those who are holding Greek government debt will lose at a minimum 53.5 per cent of the value of their assets. This was forced on the private sector by the Troika (EU, ECB, and IMF) who apparently think it is preferable to undermine private sector wealth than introduce changes to their the Eurozone monetary system which might actually make it work! The discussions in Europe will quickly move to when Bailout 3 is required because reducing the level of Greece’s debt does very little to alleviate the problem which is the capacity of the Greek government to service the flow of interest payments while simultaneously destroying its tax base with austerity. The recent performance of Iceland serves as a timely reminder of how currency sovereignty (monopoly issuance and floating currency) can assist an economy make substantial structural adjustments without major attacks on living standards. Moreover, such an economy can restore growth relatively quickly in contradistinction to EMU nations which are locked in (variously) to years of recession-cum-depression. This blog is a brief tale of two economies – Greece and Iceland

The Euro leaders are having another Summit in Brussels today – another one – the 17th in two years. I think they are getting used to the nice wine and sumptuous food that is served up. Little ever comes from these summits that is of any productive import. This time they plan to set in concrete balanced budget rules to be embedded into the national legislation of EU member states yet at the same time propose job creation and growth strategy. The job creation strategy is allegedly going to focus on the youth of Europe who are becoming unemployed and excluded in increasing numbers as time goes by. The lunacy is that Europe’s youth started losing their jobs some years ago yet the leaders are now expressing concern. Also over the weekend, there was a leaked German proposal for today’s summit detailing how Greece should leave the Eurozone and become a German colony. My how audacious our Teutonic friends have become!

Sometimes good things come out of bad – not often but sometimes.Yesterday was an example. I merrily set off for my bit over an hour flight from Newcastle to Melbourne with meetings organised in the late afternoon. Weather fine and warm. Upon approaching Melbourne airport we were informed that there were severe storms and after circling for an hour were diverted to Canberra – half-way back to Newcastle to refuel. After an hour doing we renewed our attempt to land in Melbourne and about 45 minutes later we succeeded. Phone calls made meetings rescheduled no problems. Except the airport was in chaos and we were stranded for 3 hours on the tarmac waiting for a gate. So 8 hours after leaving Newcastle – about 21:30 we leave the plane very frustrated and tired. See ABC News report. During the extended “flight” I read a detective novel. So what is good about that? Answer: being stuck in the plane I didn’t have the opportunity to read the WSJ, the FT, IMF papers, World Bank reports – in fact, I managed to avoid reading any financial or economic material. I ate dinner at around midnight – relaxed! But I lie. I did actually read the French financial paper La Tribune which carried the story – Les détails du plan secret allemand pour sauver la Grèce – which translates to “the details of a secret German plan to save Greece”. The headline grabbed me before sleep. As the zzzz’s started to overtake me I concluded that the Eurozone will be one less nation soon – there was once a country named Greece.

Regular readers will note that I have consistently advocated the abandonment of the Euro and especially the immediate exit of Greece, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Italy to push things along. The basic design flaws in the ideologically-constructed monetary union were always going to bring it down. It wasn’t a matter of if but when. The when was always going to be the first major negative aggregate demand shock that the union experienced. Come 2008 we saw very starkly how quickly the region unravelled and now the situation is getting worse not better. Not many commentators agreed with me and most argued that with some tinkering and some harsh austerity the zone could rescue itself. The problem is basic though and has little to do with behaviour of the member states, although I will write tomorrow how the conduct of the Germans has exacerbated the crisis. It is clear that governments like Spain were more frugal than Germany’s government prior to the crisis and they now have 20 per cent unemployment and worse. As the crisis deepens though more commentators are now arguing for a Greek default and/or both default and exit. The sooner the southern states get out of the bind they are and free of the pernicious ideology of the EU/IMF/ECB troika the better. Tomorrow is not a day too soon.