The euro crisis, cognitive dissonance, and proof that Germans have a sense of humour

The Telegraph ^ | 6/26/2012 | Daniel Hannan

[bruinbirdman]

It looks like denial. Greeks want the euro, but not the austerity it requires. Germans want the euro but not the tax-rises it demands.

The euro crisis is becoming surreal

In fact, what we're seeing is a form of cognitive dissonance. From the first, the euro was aggressively promoted as a way to boost growth. Indeed, the most surreal thing about all this talk of a 'growth strategy' in Brussels is that we're dealing with the consequences of the last 'growth strategy' – monetary union. None the less, two decades of propaganda have left their mark. People are not quite ready to see that the euro is the cause of their problems, not the solution.

The moment of enlightenment will come soon enough. And the implications, when it does, are vast. If the EU's single most prestigious project turns out to have been sold on a false premise, the reputation of the Brussels elite generally will suffer. The benefit of the doubt on which Eurocrats have been able to draw, at least in the core, Carolingian states, will vanish.

In the mean time, I pass on an anecdote which proves once and for all

[bruinbirdman]

Daniel Hannan is a writer and journalist, and has been Conservative MEP for South East England since 1999. He speaks French and Spanish and loves Europe, but believes that the European Union is making its constituent nations poorer, less democratic and less free.

[massgopguy]

Of course the Germans have a sense of humor. Just don’t mention the war.

[mo]

Irony is a wonderful thing....Germany...having spent the better part of the first 1/2 if the 20th century attempting to conquer Europe...now holds it in the palm of their hand 100 years later...and can’t figure out how to dump it fast enough!!!