The new European Revolutions

Europe is in the midst of a revolution. Democratically elected governments have been quickly and silently removed and replaced with government by technocrats.

The new Italian government is being led by a man recently ennobled as a “senator for life”, a position which last appeared in the public eye when enjoyed by General Augusto Pinochet.

Who has caused these coup d’etats? Not the armies, nor even the people of these countries, but “the markets”, whose confidence is desperately sought after the installation of these unelected technocrats.

In this they have been supported by the EU. The newly installed Italian government have received a vote of confidence from the unelected “President” of the EU, Barosso and his European Parliamentary henchman, Hermann van Rompuy. At the head of this new enforcement agency lies a duopoly of Sarkozy and Merkel. Both at least have some democratic legitimacy as leaders of France and Germany, but none in Italy or Greece.

Italy’s borrowing crisis reached a peak last week when an organization called LCH. Clearnet increased the costs associated with purchase of Italian government bonds. Not, apparently, because of concerns about the countries ability to repay its debt but out of concern about the sluggish rate of growth of the Italian economy. None of the features of the so called austerity package seem calculated to encourage growth. Their point rather more bluntly appears to be insure against the countries ability to repay debt.

Greece has many endemic problems, not least of which is its Olympian standards of tax avoidance. Papandreou was elected on a platform of economic growth and has ultimately fallen on his sword because of his unpreparedness to tackle tax evasion and his inability to deliver economic growth. If inability to deliver economic growth had been the key factor in late twentieth century elections, Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan would not have been re-elected at the first time of asking.

The new leaders of Greece and Italy are, respectively, a former central banker and an economics professor. Both appear to be gentlemen of unalloyed integrity and fundamental decency. Both appear to be acknowledged experts in their fields, though those fields have not been entirely innocent in the recent economic disaster. Both, whilst having the qualified support of their parliaments, have no democratic mandate.

How far does democracy go before technocrats have to step in and over-rule? What are the challenges facing those who believe in democracy in this situation? When push comes to shove, who decides?

What does the crisis also mean for Capitalism? Is Capitalism ultimately sustainable? Why do economies – corporate and national – always have to grow? Indeedn do they always have to grow? Why? What does untramelled growth in the west mean for the rest of the world? Is such growth environmentally sustainable? What does it ultimately mean for peace and security?