this post was submitted on 25 Feb 2024
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[–] Kaplya@hexbear.net 86 points 8 months ago (2 children)

This is just the prelude/excuse to austerity. It’s happening one way or another. Europe is truly fucked.

[–] GlueBear@hexbear.net 49 points 8 months ago (1 children)

They've been doing austerity. I think they might start taxing people's savings. It's the only way to get money without outright stealing it.

[–] Hestia@hexbear.net 26 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Little secret here...

Taxation is theft...

Just not how lolbertarians imagine it to be

[–] Sickos@hexbear.net 19 points 8 months ago

Yeah you're supposed to get good things back for your money

[–] Frank@hexbear.net 27 points 8 months ago

We're on like Austerity VII: The Rerevengeance

[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 79 points 8 months ago (3 children)

a region with currency sovereignty running out of money

Gibberish.

[–] CyborgMarx@hexbear.net 63 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Eurozone countries don't have currency sovereignty, that was the whole point of the Euro, to "discipline" states and prevent them from spending by putting the printing press in Frankfurt

[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 52 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Individual Eurozone countries can run out of money, yes, but that's not what the finance minister said.

The finance minister said "Europe" has run out of money, which is gibberish.

[–] Kaplya@hexbear.net 55 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (3 children)

The EU countries under eurozone has no currency sovereignty because money creation is subjugated to the European Central Bank but every member state has their own separate fiscal policies, and the ECB has no mechanism to absorb the imbalances between different member states.

It will go down in history as one of the stupidest ideas humankind has ever implemented in practice.

But in reality it’s not so “stupid” because neoliberal bankers in the rich countries like France and Germany made a lot of profit out of it, and will use this “running out of money” excuse to impose austerity and extract even more wealth and funnel them to the very top 0.1%.

[–] Dolores@hexbear.net 42 points 8 months ago (1 children)

money creation is subjugated to the European Central Bank but every member state has their own separate fiscal policies, and the ECB has no mechanism to absorb the imbalances between different member states

wait fr? they can't just coordinate printing more money? what a bunch of jokers lmao

[–] davel@hexbear.net 49 points 8 months ago (1 children)

The Euro was designed by the US to fuck over Europe, and the European private banks went along with it because it put them in virtually completely control.

The Eurozone was designed to foreclose on Keynesian economics and ensure neoliberalism.

[–] IzyaKatzmann@hexbear.net 17 points 8 months ago (1 children)

yo any reading or resources you could help me out with on this?

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[–] queermunist@lemmy.ml 28 points 8 months ago

But he specifically said Europe is running out of money. If he means France is running out of money, that's a different problem because it's like you said. It's actually quite similar to how the US has currency sovereignty but individual US states have to have balanced budgets.

[–] johnmccainstumor@hexbear.net 17 points 8 months ago (4 children)

Europe really should be ruled by Moscow as a colony. No money printing, no voting, just give it to them! THEY WANT IT! I WANT IT!

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[–] plinky@hexbear.net 16 points 8 months ago

buy our bonds we might not freeze them, if you behave

things countries with export surplus like to hear

[–] Awoo@hexbear.net 45 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

You take people's money and you can say goodbye to the EU.

This is so fucking stupid. Even the tories understand that you don't fuck with people's savings, respecting the triple lock on pensions and the like. The vast majority of savings are held either by elderly people preparing to survive on it, or by the financial class.

Every single one of them will turn on the project. There will be a very significant number of bourgeoisie joining the side of trying to end the EU at this news.

[–] GlueBear@hexbear.net 14 points 8 months ago (1 children)

There will be a very significant number of bourgeoisie joining the side of trying to end the EU at this news.

I don't think so, the alternative would be to go after them. They'll probably support this "begrudgingly"

[–] Awoo@hexbear.net 12 points 8 months ago

Having their cash stores raided vs ending the EU, they'll take the latter. Will be a spike in far right funding and support coming from them.

[–] Angel@hexbear.net 43 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but in this instance, it sounds like the system is collapsing really hard on itself???

[–] arymandias@hexbear.net 24 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

It sounds like what he wants to do is create an investment product for people with savings. So instead of having it on your bank account you give it to the EU / member government to invest. The idea is then that it is wisely invested and thus creates profit that can be payed back as interest. So not that radical. The fact that they resort to this of course is another indication that the sanctions are backfiring immensely, but to me it doesn’t sound like the apocalypse.

Edit: although the fact that he keeps rambling on about AI makes me think a lot of Western European upper middle class families will loose some of their savings after the money disappears in some kind of AI Blockchain scheme. Or more realistically they get their savings + interest but governments need to cut healthcare spending to cover it.

[–] GlueBear@hexbear.net 19 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Yeah, it is. The thing is 35000 billion euros is a lot of money and can absolutely improve Europe's manufacturing capabilities, and fund social programs for people. The problem is he's talking about going into "European's savings" which I have no idea what he means. I'm under the assumption that they'll start taxing savings, bc just taking people's cash is too extreme.

[–] Frogmanfromlake@hexbear.net 39 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Yet they’re still backing Ukraine. Jokes.

[–] GlueBear@hexbear.net 14 points 8 months ago

Just pathetic, but hey! Ukraine is a dead end that I'm happy exists for the sheer fact that it dries up the garden!

[–] Acute_Engles@hexbear.net 38 points 8 months ago

Hey, so am i! Didn't realize I had so much in common with a group of states

[–] mactan@lemmy.ml 32 points 8 months ago (1 children)

that's not how that works at all

[–] DamarcusArt@lemmygrad.ml 32 points 8 months ago (1 children)

What do you mean? They raise prices and increase inflation, that means people have to spend their savings. Problem solved!

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[–] Comradesexual@lemmygrad.ml 31 points 8 months ago (2 children)

I truly can't wait to be homeless and jobless with everything around me falling apart.

[–] LeZero@hexbear.net 27 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Jokes on you Bruno, I don't have any savings

He also said that "we will collapse the Russian economy" I kid you not

[–] StalinForTime@hexbear.net 27 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Interesting example of how neoliberal strategies of extending the reach of financial instruments seems to inevitably come for the lower and middle classes' (or broad working class's) savings.

I haven't had the time to look at the proposals in any detail, but in essence, it seems that he's just restating the classic economic logic that the source of investment is savings, and so if there is a mismatch between them, this will cause a negative output gap in growth, both due to demand and suppl-side factors. It is also obviously motivated by the concerns of mainstream economists that the lagging productivity (in particular of labor, because labour is the source of all value and how they form a common unit of value and productivity measurement, as Marx understood) is a serious issue and that AI is the way to deal with it. Also interesting the classic decrepit European realization that they are falling behind the US and China (and Russia, for that matter) on these fronts. Though it is strange how that ignores other key factors determining investment, like expected returns and interest rates (which are rising). Also, if private businesses are already unwilling to invest because they know that savings and income are too low, and people not willing enough to engage in borrowing sprees, to make their expected returns on investment profitable, then how would an investment fund financed with savings deal with this issue? He might argue that more efficient capital markets and new investment vehicles leverage savings might deal with that, but it is again not clear to me that the private sector is going to be that motivated. Most of the interest of private firms so far in AI has been either in superficial labor-saving areas like branding, website design, and potentially in more efficient systems of labor surveillance, monitoring, control and time-management, as opposed to any real tremendous gains in real labor productivity, though the future is ofc an unknown country. It also seems to ignore the naturally monopolistic tendencies of a sector like investment in advanced AI software and hardware, which would not suggest to me that the Europeans can easily compete with the US or China, who have a head-start in terms of concentration, advantages of scale and greater levels of government support.

Funny also how none of the French liberals are asking which social group's savings are going to bear the brunt of this. There is ofc no mention of the trillions in the bourgeoisie's offshore bank accounts. Given the high rates of taxes (at least perceived) in France already it's not clear how this would be popular with anybody.

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[–] Aru@lemmygrad.ml 27 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Can't wait for a random third world leader to be accused of having a discord femboy minors harem or some crazy ass shit

[–] GlueBear@hexbear.net 12 points 8 months ago (1 children)
[–] Aru@lemmygrad.ml 12 points 8 months ago

Remember when they started making up shit about Gaddafi?

[–] Self_Hating_Moid@hexbear.net 25 points 8 months ago

Bank run simulator

[–] ShimmeringKoi@hexbear.net 20 points 8 months ago

Do it you fucking neo-aristo slugs, make everyone hate you directly instead of just abstractly

[–] FuckyWucky@hexbear.net 17 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

bullshit, the Germans don't want to print money.

[–] GlueBear@hexbear.net 11 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I don't think they'll be printing money so much as raising taxes

[–] FuckyWucky@hexbear.net 14 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Yea what I meant is that the Germans have a disproportionate amount of control over the ECB (much like how the U.S. has almost complete control over NATO). The ECB could tell members to raise taxes (on the rich else its just austerity in a different way), issue bonds (which will increase deficit which the neolibs consider to be 'bad') or 'print' Euros by itself (not really necessary).

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[–] DragonBallZinn@hexbear.net 17 points 8 months ago

Radical idea. Maybe we should let only experts run things.

Thanks to these idiots, or gamblers on wall street. I can't eat.

[–] wombat@hexbear.net 12 points 8 months ago

we may have to start making excuses for the lack of terror

[–] AlpineSteakHouse@hexbear.net 11 points 8 months ago

What's the chance this is a translation thing and he's talking about offering war bonds?

[–] Abracadaniel@hexbear.net 11 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Can't they just print more Euros?

[–] Candidate@hexbear.net 12 points 8 months ago

Yep, whenever someone says this shit it's just a pretense for austerity.

[–] WhatDoYouMeanPodcast@hexbear.net 11 points 8 months ago

Bullish for Bitcoin

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