Dennis R Redmond wrote:
>Let's not bury the European Parliament
No, but what would happen if you waved garlic at it? What a strange
creature the European Paliament is. Does it mean anything to the Europeans
here? I've been reading the Treaties of Rome & Maastricht over the last
couple of days - damn, those documents show how far the bourgeoisie has
fallen since its great documents of the 18th century - and there's not much
there for the Parliament to do. It can originate nothing; it has to ask the
Commisson (or is it the Council? what a weird structure of governance) to
propose something. It is consulted, but seems like a very weak body. The EU
is a creature of central bankers and senior politicians.
The Euro central bank makes the Fed look like a model of accountability.
Maastricht specifies that the president of the ECB and its governing board
must be restricted to "persons of recognized standing and professional
experience in monetary or banking matters," language even more restrictive
than the U.S. law regulating appointments to the Fed's board of governors,
where the president is required to pay "due regard to a fair representation
of the financial, agricultural, industrial, and commercial interests" of
the country and its regions. And they're so busy being deflationists, I
don't think they have the lender of last resort thing worked out at all,
even though the IMF predicts massive financial turmoil as capacity is
shaken out.
Doug
