A message reality-denying Europe will HATE to listen to

[Skybird]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16918000

Wise words from Malaysia, told without any posing. And like wisdom often is: so simple and obvious that it equals a form of a certain type of modest elegance.

But both citizens and leaders in Europe will not listen.

[Skybird]

In a certain context, two pieces on Greece and Germany:

The need to end this farce

Debt crisis myth: why Germany is not benefitting from Euro's woes

While ordinary people know both, again it is the politicians who will hate the more to listen the more EUphile they are.

[CCIP]

Dr Mahathir may be 86 years old, but he still holds very strong views.

In particular, he believes Europe and the West must begin the long slow process of restructuring their economies to reduce their dependence on the financial sector.

"I think you should go back to doing what I call real business - producing goods, providing services, trading - not just moving figures in bank books, which is what you are doing."

His big bugbear is still currency trading, which he believes did huge damage to the Malaysian economy during the financial crisis that hit Asia in the late 1990s.

"Currency is not a commodity", he says.

"You sell coffee. Coffee… can be ground and made into a cup of coffee.

"But currency, you cannot grind it and make it into anything. It is just figures in the books of the banks and you can trade with figures in the books of banks only.

"There must be something solid to trade, then you can legitimately make money."

Wise words! That's indeed an accurate assessment.

It should be pointed out, though, that many Asian countries have in fact been at the forefront of promoting speculative (if not outright fictitious) economies and currency-meddling, China perhaps more than anybody.

Frankly I don't think this says as much about EU as it does about the sustainability of finance/service-oriented economies, which are not endemic to the EU.

[the_tyrant]

What I believe will happen is that wages, benefits, etc around the world will be averaged out for most positions

After all, why should I pay someone in Germany 10+ euros to do something I can pay someone in Africa 50 cents to do?

This is how it works now, but it won't be like this for long.

I believe in a certain amount of time, it would cost the same around the world.

AKA, a factory worker gets paid $x an hour in Germany, the same position would be payed the same in the Congo, Brazil, China, etc.

The wage in high wage areas (for example Germany) would have to be reduced, while low wage areas would be improved. Equilibrium would be reached somewhere in the middle.

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by CCIP

Wise words! That's indeed an accurate assessment.

It should be pointed out, though, that many Asian countries have in fact been at the forefront of promoting speculative (if not outright fictitious) economies and currency-meddling, China perhaps more than anybody.

Frankly I don't think this says as much about EU as it does about the sustainability of finance/service-oriented economies, which are not endemic to the EU.

I only say City of London.

What the production and exporting of cars and machinery means for Germany, the finance district of London, the numbers in the books of banks the Malaysian president mentioned, means for Britain.