The Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself
The Eurocrisis is severe, but no reason to wet your pants -- or to mention the war, is it? As did The Times editor-at-large Anatole Kaletsky, in an op-ed for his paper by the headline: "Germany has declared war on the eurozone"
If Clausewitz is right that "war is the continuation of policy by other means", then Germany is again at war with Europe -- in the sense that German policy is trying to achieve the characteristic objectives of war: the redrawing of international boundaries and the subjugation of foreign peoples.
Holy guacamole! The Australian has republished his op-ed with free access to everyone visiting via Google. So search for the headline "Europe is at economic war, and Germany is winning". (HT Christian)
Wasn't The Australian supposed to be a good paper and The Times supposed to be a respectable broadsheet? This article is on the same level as the UK tabloid Daily Mail: "Germany's economic colonisation of Europe"
(See the last blogpost Short Guide to Lazy EU Journalism)
Second example of fear mongering: Bruce Stokes, Senior Transatlantic Fellow for Economics at the German Marshall Fund of the U.S. testified at Congress earlier this month:
But the euro crisis is no longer simply an economic problem. It is increasingly a foreign and security policy challenge for the United States. And this crisis has the potential to undermine the transatlantic alliance, something the Soviets never accomplished during the Cold War.
Default by one or more euro area countries could well lead to stagnant economic growth, introspection and self-preoccupation in Europe. A weakened, distracted Europe would prove a strategic liability for the United States.
It would mean a Europe even less able to defend itself. One that cuts back on foreign aid. A Europe that falls short in its effort to curb greenhouse gases.
Seriously? You got to bring up the Cold War and the Soviet threat? And you express concern about EU's foreign aid and greenhouse gases? At Congress, of all places?
Henry Kissinger, however, is pretty relaxed and quite optimistic regarding the eurocrisis in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German.)
Happy Thanksgiving! Time to chill!
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