Thatcher’s basic take on a tight European federation was that it was unnecessary, unworkable, and dangerous. The nation state, she insisted, should remain at the heart of the international system, and a federated Europe would threaten its sway.Moreover, Thatcher had misgivings about the Continent as a source of moral inspiration. “During my lifetime,” she reminisced, “most of the problems the world has faced have come, in one form or another, from mainland Europe, and the solutions — from outside it.”
That insight alone is priceless, but it still pales compared with what she wrote more than a decade ago, when the euro was still a toddler, and the economies of Greece, Spain and Cyprus seemed as distant from calamity as they now are from salvation. “The European single currency,” wrote Thatcher in 2002, “is bound to fail — economically, politically, and indeed socially.”
Thatcher’s reasoning for this was not ideological. It was monetarist. There can be no such thing as a united currency without a united budget, she argued, at a time when it was impolite to suggest that the euro’s newlyweds would soon accuse each other of theft, deceit, laziness, imperialism and oppression.
Economics of a Housewife vs. Career Socialist Politician
“I am not prepared to accept the economics of a housewife,” said Jacques Chirac, a future French president in 1987. He should have. Look at France now.
Margaret Thatcher’s Last Shot at the Socialists
I have linked to the above video before, and it’s certainly worth a replay now.
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Today President Barack Obama will designate five new national monuments. They’re spread all over the country: There’s part of the San Juan Islands in Washington state, the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument in Maryland, the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument in New Mexico, the First State National Monument in Delaware and the Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument in Ohio.
All of that new green space, could bring some serious greenbacks into those local economies says economist Jared Bernstein, a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
“Those people are going to spend some money in the parks, maybe they’ll buy some food, some souvenirs. That type of spending helps boost local economies,” says Bersnstein.
The Rio Grande Del Norte monument in New Mexico is expected to bring $ 15 million a year to the area.
That’s partially because Americans are starting to travel again says Douglas Quinby, principal analyst at PhoCusWright, a travel industry research firm.
“The economy is definitely improving, so we are optimistic [we are] going to see some gains in 2013,” he says.
Still, it could be a rough year for parks. Many are expected to take a hit under the sequestration budget cuts and will have to cut staff and reduce hours.
