You don’t find it odd that each loan has been preceded by rate spikes and government collapse, which each replacement government has been German friendly technocrats? Just because they are “allies”, it is ok? David Cameron should pick our government? The people should have no say?
I think you both are right,
and what happened on Thursday was an ultimatum from Germany and France.
Southern Europe is slipping into anything but a democratic government. Greece and Italy are now directed from Paris and Berlin, and Spain could save some autonomy tomorrow in the national elections if there is a wide right wing majority.
Sarkozy and Merkel are simply sick and tired of dealing with people that have no intention to fulfill what they sign, and when they come back to their countries they simply share the cash gotten from Brussels among their political allies and forget about reforms. That is the difference with Spain, where the right wing Popular Party is an honest partner.
Nevertheless, Germany has long pursued a policy of crushing other countries industries with new regulations: the EU for them has been a way of getting a Lebensraum for their products, a big market, and crush any competitors.
And both Germany and France have been favoured by Southern European populist governments, Germany with green energy investments, for instance. French banks, always in collusion with their government, have activelly supported the same individuals now Sarkozy and Merkel are rejecting. In fact, Spanish Socialists victory in 2008 was built on foreign credit being pumped into the real estate and green energy bubbles.
In this issue all are to blame, and the consequence is that Democracy is disappearing from Southern Europe.