Dandelion Salad
by Prof. Michael Hudson
Global Research, July 8, 2010
As Europe’s banking crisis deepens, Greece’s and Spain’s fiscal crisis spreads throughout Europe and the US economy stalls, most discussions of how to stabilize national finances assume that only two options are available: “internal devaluation” – shrinking the economy by cutting public spending; or outright devaluation of the currency (for countries that have not yet joined the euro, such as Eastern Europe).
The Baltics and other countries have rejected currency depreciation on the ground that it would delay EU membership. But as most debts are denominated in euros – and owed mainly to foreign banks or their local branches – devaluation would cause a sharp jump in debt service, causing even more defaults and negative equity in real estate. Devaluation also would raise the price of energy and other essential imports, aggravating the economic squeeze.
Continue reading →