"economically absurd", "economically erroneous and politically dangerous", "a scandal", "insane"
Europe’s monetary union is in a deep crisis.
In the context of Greece’s debt concerns and emerging problems in other countries, huge current account imbalances have been identified as a major threat.
But since the adoption of a single currency, devaluation is no longer available to correct an unsustainable current account deficit.
Otmar Issing, FT March 18 2010


För en tid sedan skrev jag här att Otmar Issing sannolikt, vid sidan av USA:s Volcker, är världens mest respekterade centralbanksperson.

En av cheferna för Morgan Stanley berättar 
It was also a moving event, with a rich human dimension heralded by the ten-minute-long standing ovation Otmar Issing received at the dinner, not exactly what you would expect from a gathering of grave central bankers and distinguished economists. 
read more here

Jag har en gång i London lyssnat på ett föredrag av Otmar Issing och jag kan intyga att han ser ut som, och låter som, en engelsk gentleman utbildad i Oxford.

När man i hans artikel i Financial Times läser att han använder ord som "economically absurd", "economically erroneous and politically dangerous", "a scandal", "insane", höjer man därför onekligen på ögonbrynen.

- Transferring responsibility to the European level would be politically dangerous because it would create permanent tensions. “Europe”, this time for the right reason, would be held responsible for the negative consequences of its policies, skriver han bland annat.

I ett föredrag för några år sedan, sade han 

IN THE FIRST CENTURY AD, a merchant setting off from Rome on a journey to Cologne was able to pay his bills with the same coin, the denarius, over his entire journey.
Initially, Rome safeguarded cohesion of its large empire by fire and sword, then increasingly by placing even the most remote provinces under the legal system and administration of Rome.
The precise lessons to be drawn from such historical episodes may not be entirely clear.

Så elegant brukar han uttrycka sig.

Läs hans artikel i Financial Times via denna länk


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