Soros: If Germany Persists, Europe Is Over

George Soros has gone to Berlin to tell the Germans that their policies are leading to the disintegration of not just the Euro, but Europe itself.

Yesterday in a panel on the "Future of Europe" at a conference organized by the Institute for New Economic Thinking, Soros said:

The Euro has really broken down. It has sprung defects, some of which could have been anticipated and some were anticipated. But some actually couldn't. Effectively, heavily indebted countries [in Europe] have ended up in the position of a third world country that is heavily indebted in a foreign currency. And that is only one of the unanticipated results of how things worked out [with the Euro].

Soros went on to say that Europe is simultaneously suffering from a Euro Crisis, a sovereign debt crisis, a balance of payments crisis, a banking crisis, a competitiveness crisis and suffering from other serious structural defects.


Bottom line. Soros thinks Europe is over unless Germany immediately changes course and develops a policy framework that is far more flexible and pragmatic than it is forcing now.

Here is the clip of George Soros on the "Future of Europe" panel:
 

More on the INET meeting in Berlin soon.

-- Steve Clemons is Washington Editor at Large at The Atlantic, where this post first appeared. Clemons can be followed on Twitter at @SCClemons

 

Follow Steve Clemons on Twitter: www.twitter.com/SCClemons

Comments

[NewAmericanow]

11:02 AM on 04/16/2012

Let's say I loan u money. You work hard to pay me back money I created from thin air and w interest. You can't pay me back because you can't just print money. I get to take all your stuff and u even feel guilty about it. This is the ultimate crime folks. Anybody going to jail? If you try and walk out without paying for that McDouble you will go to jail. If I impoverish a whole continent and steal all the wealth through LEGALIZED counterfeiting nothing happens. It's time to outlaw fractional reserve banking. Why do we keep repeating these same mistakes. No matter how you all feel about Ron Paul, he is the only one speaking about this, and the powers that be are marginalizing that message. They will never PEACEFULLY give up their power over the people. They will blame it on others like Iran, China, Russia, the Poor, The Mexicans, Zimmerman, whoever, but they will always deflect blame and always introduce solutions for the problems they create. There is NO difference between the Democrats and Republicans. It is all an illusion to divide the people and make them fight among themselves instead of fighting together. More and more people are waking up to this scam of phony choices for leaders and the false promises they make while lying to your faces. A revolution is coming and it won't be pretty or peaceful, It will be down right bloody. Prepare yourselves.

[BonfiyaBabylon]

10:09 PM on 04/15/2012

We can all learn from Iceland!

[Epilef2000]

02:16 AM on 04/15/2012

the local currency movement is taking root in several towns and cites in the US, and calls for a state governments to be allowed to organize state banks, with local currency, not to replace the national currency but to supplement the local economies are some of the ideas that could not only benefit US economy, but Europe as well.

[sarabono]

12:54 AM on 04/15/2012

The EU is over if they don't follow what Germany wants them to do. The sooner they accept that the sooner they will recover. If they choose not to become disciplined then several more will start looking like Greece.

[devondx]

09:26 AM on 04/15/2012

instant austerity only worsens the problem....

they'll be better off defaulting on the debt.....

[georgemorris61]

10:11 PM on 04/14/2012

This is the reason Tim Geithner is explaining the bailout, because TARPII is on the horizon if the European Union fails, it will be a last resort.

[LMPE]

09:36 PM on 04/14/2012

Is there any way to artificially restart all the economies, or am I just whistling Dixie?

[devondx]

09:27 AM on 04/15/2012

defaulting on the debt may be their only option...

[LMPE]

02:12 PM on 04/15/2012

I'd be up for that. Ecuador had incurred a lot of debt, but when Rafael Correa became president, he declared the debt illegitimate because the military juntas incurred it.

[oldgeek1]

06:37 PM on 04/14/2012

The Euro was a bad idea from the get go.

[lensamy]

02:59 PM on 04/14/2012

The idea of unifying a continent is nothing but bad news. Is just matter of time before they will have to decide whether to keep the Euro or not. You cant really keep a healthy economic environment when you have many of its component failing and it seems that no matter how much money Germany gives to Greece and the others, things are not changing for the better, a good indicator that the problems runs deeper. Time to give up, the Euro needs to go before the solvent countries are dragged down...

[Scholastica8]

02:41 PM on 04/14/2012

The problem with Germany is that ever since it unified in the 1800s, Europe has been too small for it. Germany wants to control Europe.... forgetting other forays by Frederick the Great .... there was the Franco-Prussian War.... basically WW1 was a re-do of that.... then WW2 was the result of the rest of Europe trying to suppress Germany through reparations for WW1.

Well, it's taken awhile, but Germany has risen again... and now rather than war, it's method is money. For whatever reason, Germany seems to constantly expect that it will be the last man standing amongst a rubble strewn Europe. Unfortunately, Germany is in the center of Europe... and w/o Europe, Germany is less, rather than more.

[eric14]

02:30 PM on 04/14/2012

Soros went on to say that Europe is simultaneously suffering from a Euro Crisis, a sovereign debt crisis, a balance of payments crisis, a banking crisis, a competitiveness crisis and suffering from other serious structural defects.
--------------------------------------------------
TRUE. And it is about time the political class of Europe started talking about A:LL of these crises as one whole that they need to manage. Or we will wake up from this stupor owned by the Gulf and the East.

[muysuave41]

01:57 PM on 04/14/2012

Mr Soros, good luck. We are on downward spiral without much hope. The euro zone leaders are too far down the road of following what Germany has to say. A few leaders, such as our rudderless leader, Rajoy, try to sound the alarm but in the end they are following the failed German mantra -- cuts, cuts, cuts -- you don't spend money you don't have! Our competitiveness is also on a downward slope of no return.

[hungryaardvark]

01:23 PM on 04/14/2012

The ONLY reason the US has even a temporarily surviving economy is that we, unlike Europe, can and do create new money by the $Trillions regularly. Our economy is fake and will crash as soon as a ripple hits our shores. If EVERYTHING in the world works harmoniously and there are no new wars and no economic failures of any major economies (a remote possibly, indeed), the US might be able to survive to 2025. If anything effs that up at all, we are looking at a precipitous collapse within 3-5 years. But we continue to live in denial and pretend that Empire America is real. Alas.

[4U5]

04:22 PM on 04/14/2012

Listening to Helter Skelter

[Libertarian5]

01:19 PM on 04/14/2012

Balkan countries withh service/tourism oriented economies should not have joined the Euro, period. Let's repair that mistake now! Lifeboat Germany can carry only so much, burden it too much and all sink. Besides, you're free to spend your own billions to prop up that country, Soros.