Can Europe Become The New Land Of Milk And Honey?

Spending the last few weeks in Europe, my strong impression is that the present crisis will not end up with it becoming more unified by planting the seeds of a European Ministry of Finance, issuing "European" bonds, and coordinating actions with the ECB.

Rather, the European governments will use a variety of short-term bandages and somehow muddle through, for a while. And then, facing an even bigger crisis, the present E.U. experiment will go up in a puff of smoke. What seems to be utterly missing in Europe at present is any sense of purpose. No politicians in any country are able to convey a vision of a model of a successful and prosperous society

Paradoxically though, the euro could survive, if eventually anchored in gold, while the now member states of the European Community will each go their own way to find their fiscal solutions. This would not be too surprising as Europe had historically embraced variations of the gold standard, though far from any notion of a "community."

Mark Twain's "History does not repeat itself, but it rhymes" is an aphorism that is constantly in the back of my mind. Unless one finds a point of reference, there are an infinite number of lines along which to extrapolate. So bear with me, because some of the rhymes that lead me to reach the above conclusions are truly from distant pasts.

The first thing that strikes me in Europe is the constant whining and the expectation that the government must find solutions to everything. Never mind that governments' coffers are empty and their access to credit limited. Of course we have plenty of whining on this side of the Atlantic too.

-Article by Reuven Brenner

Read full article: Forbes, July 14, 2011