• by Ignacio Ramonet
• Friday, October 07, 2011
• Inter Press Service

Rather than taking any action to address the situation and terrified by recent drops on the stock exchanges, governments are bending over backwards to coddle the markets when what they should do is disarm them and make them submit to strict regulation. How long can we continue to allow financial speculation to set the terms for political representation? What is democracy for, after all? What is the use of voting when the markets dictate what the government should do? asks Ignacio Ramonet, editor of Le Monde diplomatique en espanol.

Rather than taking any action to address the situation and terrified by recent drops on the stock exchanges, governments are bending over backwards to coddle the markets when what they should do is disarm them and make them submit to strict regulation. How long can we continue to allow financial speculation to set the terms for political representation? What is democracy for, after all? What is the use of voting when the markets dictate what the government should do? asks Ignacio Ramonet, editor of Le Monde diplomatique en espanol.

In this analysis, the author writes that realistic alternatives are to be found in the very heart of the capitalist model, backed by internationally- recognised economic experts. Two examples: first, the European Central Bank (ECB) should be transformed into a true central bank that can lend money (under specific conditions) to states in the Eurozone in order to finance their spending. At present the ECB is barred from doing so, which forces countries to turn to the markets which charge astronomical interest rates. This is the way the debt crisis began.

A second solution: to stop promising and finally move to impose a tax on financial transactions. A modest tax (0.1 percent) on all stock and currency trades would bring the EU between 30 and 50 billion euros per year, which would be more than enough to finance public services, restore the welfare state, and offer a bright future for the new generations. In other words, there are viable solutions to the current problem. The question is, where is the political will to act?

(*) Ignacio Ramonet, editor of Le Monde diplomatique en espanol.

© Inter Press Service (2011) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

Where next?

Advertisement