exchange rates and Greece

[fpb]

One of the habits of mind induced by a Marxist education is to consider the economic and political battlefield as a zero-sum game. This lasts even after any belief in socialism has died out, and results in the frequently observed phenomenon that ex-Marxists and ex-Communists make the most brutal, rapacious and conscienceless capitalists. It is,

Comments

[shezan]

Brilliant! That being said, many people within hearing DID say they wanted the euro to become a reserve currency. Most if not all for the same stupid chest-thumping reasons, but it does underpin a good deal of the thinking still.

[fpb]

Up to a point. I should have qualified that, but if I qualified every statement I made here that needed qualifying, this would turn into a book. What I would say is: quite a few European leaders would have liked it if they could have replaced the dollar relatively painlessly and not too fast. But it was not a priority to much of anyone, let alone a driving need. In fact, the last two generations of politicians in Europe have grown in the tradition of minor valutas, and in a situation such as the last few years', it would have been their instinct to let the exchange rate fall or inflation rise or both. The existence of the euro made that impossible - and indeed, that was one of the reasons why it was created - but the instincts don't die in a day, and when the Greek disaster came, there must have been many European leaders who thought, even if they did not say it, "well, it could have happened at a much worse time". The lack of drive cleaning up the Greek mess tells the same story: European leaders don't feel the decline of the

[dustthouart]

I think a great deal of the thinking, in the past and even still today among the right, was that capitalism would somehow save China's soul. It's a belief that kind of hangs out in the back of the mind and will not stand up to any scrutiny, because it's ridiculous and insulting to everyone involved. As if Louis Vuitton bags and Coca-cola not only are enough to totally transform a person, but also that these kind of consumer items represent the height and glory of the West.

[fpb]

Quite right. I'd rather put my trust in Beethoven, myself.

[inverarity]

China is and always has been a greater threat to the West than Iran or Islamic extremism.

Zero-sum thinking is endemic among people of all political persuasions, even free marketers. I think it's practically human nature, the idea that if someone else gains, you must lose.

[fpb]

Yes, but in Marxism it is essential, so fundamental that it is the last thing to go. The basic idea is: what one capitalist gains, another loses (hence Marx' forecast of growing, and finally universal, oligopoly and monopoly); what the capitalist class gains, the lower classes lose. The point has to be emphasized, because it has to overcome a common attitude among lower classes, that is that their prosperity and safety is tied up with the success of their upper-class leaders (hence the loyalty to kings and the like which is so widespread a historical phenomenon).

excellent post

[affablestranger]

Well done, sir. As always.