The Common Market

It is amazing to me just how much time is being spent on Common Market issues of finance without getting down to the real problem.

Anyone who knows anything about Greece or Italy will tell you that their problems stem from a chronic lack of taxation. Before you jump down my throat and tell me that taxation does not account for much, let me tell you that if you add up the amount of tax that SHOULD have been paid by professionals and corporations, not to mention personal taxes at the 'richest' levels, the total over the years adds up to billions, not millions.

I remember well when the Common Market was being put into place, at the time I lived in England, there were several of us who said it could only end in disaster. How could anyone with a modicum of common sense suggest that several countries all with different traditions, histories, lifestyles, politics and all other matters of importance, run like a United States of America, which was obviously what they were trying to create?

I remember well that as soon as the market was beginning to be built, Germany said that they would happily drop customs duties on goods and chattels being brought into Germany (Just after the war???) so what did they do, they simply put on a road tax which meant that every vehicle coming into the country had to be weighed and then was taxed for using the German roads. This actually cost more than the custom duties of old

This idea of a Common Market has been a dud from the start and should never have been attempted. Now, having bailed out the banks, several of the governments are on the edge of going into liquidation, and they should be left to do so, and have their monetary exchange values altered accordingly to reflect their situation. It goes without saying that Germany dislikes this idea intensely because, should the EU collapse, the German deutschmark would go through the roof against the other European currencies and would also climb against the US dollar, due to their relatively good industrial performance over the last few years, and consequently their exports would be severely curtailed due to increased pricing.

Once countries such as Greece and Italy take their governmental responsibilities properly and act like the politicians they are supposed to be, that is to say put into place proper taxation systems for all, and not just for the unfortunate few who do not know or are not related to them, then perhaps they can go back to trading in a competitive world without help from those who are more adult minded.