Must-Read: Matthew Yglesias: Here’s Some Thoughts about Europe
Must-Read: : Matt! on Twitter: “I think sensible Americans are still asleep…
… so here’s some thoughts about Europe instead. The Greece issue highlights continued severe structural problems with the construction of the Eurozone. Anglo-Keynesians tend to focus on the lack of fiscal transfers, but the real issue is a lack of legitimate decision-making. There is too much inter-governmentalism, opacity, and reliance on ECB discretion rather than accountable decisionmakers. To work, more authority needs to be in the hands of the Commission and the parliament, with the Commission responsible to parliament. But with the UK & Sweden disconnected from the Euro, this raises a version of the West Lothian Question as well as normal resistance. In short, Europe’s political architecture still needs some serious work and there isn’t a totally obvious path forward.