globinfo
freexchange
What was the
trend in the last decade of the 20th century that ensured the
dominance of neoliberal doctrines of capitalism across the planet? If
your first response is the collapse of the former USSR and the
Eastern bloc, think again. Behind the celebrations and observations
about the alleged domination of liberal bourgeois democracy, one of
the biggest attacks was held on peoples' rights to control even
falsified, through representatives, the economy of their country.
Sawing off
the branch on which it sat, the political establishment across the
world began to offer different levels of independence to central
banks. The political establishment obeyed to the dominant view among
market participants, according to which, politicians through the
provision of benefits to the people, cause extreme cyclical
fluctuations in the economy, which only an independent central banker
could balance. In fact, politicians, apart from the twig on which
they sat were also sawing the tree of democracy. "The
independence of central banks", Naomi Klein explained to me a
few years ago, "is the mechanism by which markets explain to the
politicians that they cannot play with their toys. It is the most
important evidence that the markets are in an open war with
democracy."
The European
Central Bank not only could not be an exception in this situation but
soon became the most ruthless "economic killer" who acted
on behalf of commercial banks of countries such as Germany. Using the
central bankers of member countries as a "fifth column",
ECB managed to impose its positions in parliaments of weak countries
when needed to overrule the governments that did not cooperate.
The fact
that the European Union lacks political control mechanisms on such
institutions, leaves ECB completely uncontrolled. In the US, where
the FED enjoys the same "independence", would be considered
unthinkable for the central banker to come into conflict with the
interests of the federal government, for example by refusing to buy
Treasuries to help the national economy to emerge from a crisis.
Unlike in Europe, the ECB has refused several times to listen to the
wishes of even the Eurogroup, declaring allegiance only in Berlin,
or, in specific financial institutions.
As Barroso's
former advisor Philippe Legrain revealed to the Greek Truth
Commission for Public Debt, the refusal of ECB's previous president,
Jean-Claude Trichet, to consider any potential restructuring of Greek
debt in 2010, was aimed solely at rescuing certain French and German
banks which were particularly exposed to Greek debt.
As the debt
crisis deepened, leading the economies of the European region in
hostage under the respective central banker of the eurozone, the ECB
clearly took the role of an "economic hitman". While
Washington had access, during previous decades, at CIA to ensure its
dominance in South America, Berlin began in 2008 to entrust
'destabilization' operations to the ECB. The dress rehearsal held in
Ireland in 2010, when Trichet openly threatened the government that
it would cut funding of the banking system, forcing Ireland to exit
eurozone in case it would not accept the "offer" loans from
the EU, IMF and the cruel austerity measures imposed. The total
amount that the Irish tax payers called to pay for this agreement was
EUR 64 billion, or about 14,000 euros per Irish citizen.
This silent
"coup" was successfully repeated in Cyprus when Berlin
decided to get over with regional economic havens and gather control
of black money into more controlled regions in Europe. And of course
the same threats from the ECB were repeated several times in Greece,
every time that the terms of the new loan agreements had to be set.
The ECB
mechanism, in close cooperation with the central bankers of the
eurozone members, was now completely out of control, interfering in
the internal politics of sovereign states. The next step, namely the
overthrow of an elected prime minister, it was just a matter of time
to occur and was first tested in Italy.
In the
summer of 2011, through a simple letter-ultimatum to Silvio
Berlusconi, Trichet and Draghi called for implementation of harsh
austerity measures in order for the ECB to buy bonds of the Italian
state and save the country from imminent bankruptcy. Serving specific
sections of the bourgeoisie in Italy, which were suffocating under
the monetary policy of Berlin, Berlusconi spoke openly about the
possibility of exit of Italy from the eurozone and several bankers
within and outside Italy were requesting his "head on a plate".
As the
Financial Times revealed last year, the summer of 2011, Italian
President Giorgio Napolitano called the technocrat, former employee
of Goldman Sachs, Mario Monti, in his office under absolute secrecy
and asked him whether he would be ready to replace the elected prime
minister. According to the Financial Times, the message given to
Monti, was that he would be called to govern, as soon as the spread
of the Italian bonds, which at that time ranged at 200 units,
exceeded 300. The soaring spread and the precipitation of Italian
bonds was done through a series of skilful movements by the ECB
president Mario Draghi (coincidentally or not, another former
executive of Goldman Sachs).
The ECB was
sending a clear message that those governments who do not follow the
orders were risking to be thrown in the dustbin of history, just in a
few weeks.
The work of
ECB could not, of course, mark such a success without the active
support of the central bankers of the EU member states, which in most
cases act as agents of the decisions taken in the central
headquarters in Frankfurt. This, of course, does not have to do with
some personal treason, but with a reflection of the prevailing
balance between the economic elites of the eurozone countries with
the powerful economic centers of Europe. The more dependent and
parasitic is the bourgeoisie in a eurozone country, the more the man
who puts as central banker will express his allegiance to the ECB.
His "independence" actually ensures that he is
unaccountable to any democratically elected institution, and thus
attached to the strongest (and most lucrative) piece of the economic
elite each time.
There were
of course a few times when the government of a country which for
various reasons decided to deviate from the mandate of the ECB,
preoccupied with the local central banker. The right-wing government
of Hungary gave a battle for months to force the central bank
governor András Simor to leave his position, through which
functioned essentially as a representative of the country's
creditors. The EU and the ECB used their entire arsenal to prevent
the removal of Seymour, going so far as to threaten Hungary even to
suspend country's right for voting in all institutions. At that time
they remembered government interference in the freedom of press, a
case which until then, no one in the corridors of Brussels bothered
to investigate.
Ιn order to
force the central banker to resign, the Hungarian Government cut his
salary by 75% and put its own people in many posts of the central
bank. In vain. The central banker left only when his term ended and
only after the "independence" of the central bank gave him
the opportunity to fight the interests of his own country in one of
the most critical posts of the Hungarian economy.
The
government of Cyprus was also in open war with the central banker.
With the outbreak of the crisis in 2012, the coldness of relations
between President Christofias and the central banker A. Orphanides
evolved into an open war as the former realized suddenly that he does
not control the country's banking system during one of the most
crucial moments of the modern Cypriot history. Once again, Frankfurt
of course stood openly on the side of its own man, who exerted
pressure to impose new austerity measures. Christofias was forced
even to refer him to the general prosecutor (accused for the
manipulation of official data) to achieve his removal, when it was
already too late.
The question
naturally arise: After all this, why did the SYRIZA government in
Greece, permitted Yannis Stournaras to continue be in charge of the
Greek economy?
Translated from the original source:
Related:
Greece:
Suspicions that the central bank undermines government!
Αlea jacta est by the “emperor” Draghi
Αlea jacta est by the “emperor” Draghi
Comments
Post a Comment