Blogs News : 27th October

Interrupting our usual glacial wonkishness. Alex Harrowell, A Fistful of Euros (en)
So nice to know he cares. Richard, EURefrendum (en)
Confusion reigns. Richard, EURefrendum (en)
Britain's treasury minister, Darling, exposed as knowing Icelandic dangers! Ironies Too (en)
Will Mandelson cause the curtains to finally fall on the corrupt EU? Ironies Too (en)
And I’m back…sort of. Vitaliy, 8th Circle (en)

Another confession. Richard, EURefrendum (en)
" ... Economists from the World Economic Forum have blamed "out of control" chief executives for treating its annual Davos summits like a luxury party rather than a serious conference.Klaus Schwab, executive chairman of the WEF, said he regretted not forcing Wall Street and City executives to listen to the worries of leading economists about the credit bubble over the last five years ...
... The funny thing is that the WEF meetings have acquired much the same reputation as the Bilderburger meetings – rich and famous men meeting "behind closed doors to set an agenda for the global economy".The sad truth though is that they were little more than high-class piss-ups for a bunch of over-paid inadequates ..."

We’re only making plans for Nigel. Alex Harrowell, A Fistful of Euros (en)
" ... In France it’s hardly unprecedented for major capital spending to be directed by the state, whether under the Commissariat au Plan, through state-controlled or -influenced enterprises, or directly by the Ministry of Finance. Sarkozy always danced nimbly between the neoliberal and state-capitalist camps. If the last two decades were the neoliberal decades, the coming two are likely to consecrate the hegemony of state capitalism. Sarkozy has been quicker than most to draw that conclusion and try to get ahead of the tsunami ..."

Keynesian Sarko. Alex Harrowell, A Fistful of Euros (en)
" ... A lot of people have greeted the news of the fund with a certain degree of nonsurprise. Since when hasn’t the French government taken stakes (and influence) in “strategic” industries? The new fund will be managed by the CDC, the state-owned bank which exists to, well, invest in strategic industries. It’s no great surprise that the Germans, and specifically the CDU, are suspicious to critical at what they probably think is an invitation to put their money into the French military-industrial complex ...
... You could often get the impression that if the conversion of Europe into a single state occurred tomorrow, there are quite a lot of important people in France who would welcome it as a chance to call a Eurogroup summit meeting, such is the obsession. And there is no reason why they shouldn’t have it; after all, as the usual suspects point out, all it amounts to is a “point of contact”. However, one thing the crisis has shown up is that there isn’t a sensible economic distinction between the EU and the Eurozone; problems blow up in one and pass straight into the other, as do solutions ..."

Sarkozy the summiteer . Stanley Crossick, Blogactiv (en)
" ... A dozen summits in six short months (August and December being vacation months) makes no sense for a part-time president who also has a country to run. But the hyperactive President of France takes it all in his stride, and adds numerous bilateral meetings and telephone discussions ...
... His performance in Strasburg on Tuesday 22 October before the European Parliament was brilliant. Speaking for 40 minutes without notes, clear, decisive, forceful, witty. In short, a charasmatic leader, but one sadly with a tendency to upset his peers and a failure to exercise the diplomatic niceties. He makes it more difficult for himself by failing to consult or even inform. ..."

How a new Irish government might save Lisbon. Hugo Brady
" ...The financial crisis is challenging many of our assumptions about the course of politics and world affairs. Gordon Brown – only weeks ago portrayed as nearing the end of his time as UK prime minister – has been elevated to European, even global leadership status. After years of pan-European financial integration, the EU is heading back to national banking systems, with heavy state involvement. And the French desire for a different kind of globalisation – considered either hopelessly vague or a form of Gallic envy a short time ago – might well be realised in the coming months. Cliché or not, these are interesting times indeed ..."

FMI : DSK à l’épreuve. Jean Quatremer, Les Coulisses de Bruxelles (fr)
" ... Car, si on lit le code de conduite du FMI, DSK a eu au minimum une « conduite inappropriée » à l’égard d’une employée sur laquelle il exerce une autorité directe, conduite qui a abouti à un « conflit d’intérêts ». C’est ainsi qu’il faut lire les « regrets » du conseil d’administration concernant son comportement. On peut se demander ce qui se serait passé si le monde ne traversait pas une telle crise bancaire et boursière, le FMI n’ayant aucun intérêt à perdre son directeur en ce moment.

The Rt Hon George Osborne, BOAP, MP. Richard, EURefrendum (en)
" ... According "a source close to the Tory leader": "George has been a bit of a prat" (BOAP). This is retailed to us by The Daily Telegraph - on the front page in the print edition. Mr Heffer is even less kind ..."

EU member states fool European Court of Justice. Julien Frisch, Watching Europe (en)
" ... In fact, the European Court of Justice had issued a verdict saying that the Iranian opposition group mentioned in the previous article - the People's Mujahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI) - should no longer be listed on the European Union's terror list.However, EUobserver reports that member states are fooling around with the Court's verdict by constantly taking "new" positions on that issue, saying that "new information" make it "impossible" to remove the PMOI from the list ..."