TEc - Britain survives - Scotland The Brave!

This time the UK has only just survived intact.
The SNP's call for outright independence was heeded by 45% of voters in a high turn-out election. A major achievement by any reckoning that a nationalist politician should have taken his cause this far and this close to victory.
It all finds explanantion when set against the background of Scotland's history from afar to times nearer.
The whole picture then emerges sharp and clear.

UK governments in London must pay closer attention to all constituent parts of a Kingdom that once ruled half the world.
Not any more since long, challenges now lie in Europe or arise daily from within.
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland may be dwarfed by England by demography and economy.
At the end of the day each want (NI is different) something more intangible than merely devolved powers.

Scotland's soul has had a chance to let out a scream of some sort.
They did it!

TEc - That sinking feeling (again) - The Eurozone has not bounced back up

The latest quarterly growth figures for the Eurozone have confirmed that a recovery never initiated in the first place. Europe at large, Eurozone-member countries in particular have barely managed to stay afloat in the midst of a severe multi-pronged structural crisis.
Political efforts to ensure the Euro's survival were no more than circumstantial expediency.
Objectively the can was repeatedly kicked down the road.

The real issue in Europe over the years from 2000 is to find key growth drivers that generate wealth like industry did since the end of the 2ndWW.
As far as sovereign-debt troubles and heavily unbalanced government accounts are concerned it is now clear that jumpstarting the economy is the only path to improve Europe's dismaying fortunes.

The million dollar (euro(!)) question is what is Europe competitive enough at that will promote its prosperity going forward?
A question for the business and political establishment to find answers to very quickly.
Failure to do so will inevitably speed up Europe's decline turning it from relative to absolute.

TEc - Collateral damage - Header that does not do justice to victims

Terrible title to head an otherwise excellent article covering just about all there is to know concerning flight MH17.
The title suits military strategists fine - whether regular armed forces or rebels wielding big guns - and politicians whose morals have long been trashed altogether.
Precious innocent lives have been criminally cut short by a single man hitting a button likely aided by a small party who cheered on. These were the material authors of an outrageous criminal act.
The moral authors, however, bear the biggest share of responsibility, one they should never be allowed to deflect from. On the contrary, no effort should be spared gathering enough evidence to lay the blame at the right doorstep.

Words do not suffice to describe the enormity of yet another major atrocity against humankind.
To my mind the best answers so far were given by the Dutch Foreign Minister speaking at the UN where words might still matter(????) and by the poignant, dignified silent reception afforded to the bodies-in-coffins upon their arrival on Dutch soil.

This criminal episode is NOT collateral.
Crucially, this is moral damage.

The day Portugal kicked off in Brazil

Raised expectations, high hopes, a wishful thought that the national team would deliver a fine win, an acceptable draw, perhaps a defeat by the slimmest margin......

Germany - 4 ; Portugal - 0 is almost too hard to bear when stakes are upped high enough in a country long yearning for some sort of victory.

Yes, over mighty Germany seen as an unfriendly nation even at the best of times.

But SHIT happens, in the pitch, where Portugal can do much, much better.

We all know it, we all secretly hoped they would stand up and face them down.

Or at least, already in despair score one lone face-saving honour goal. 

A nightmare it turned out to be.

And, damn it, everything happened under the watchful eye of a discreetly cheering Angela!

Portugal is definitely down after such a poor showing but not out of the competition. Yet.

The US and Ghana should not be underestimated.

They would better decide quickly whether they want in or out of Brazil 2014.

IBERIA got off to a bad start would be understatement.

Can IT shake it off and get on to a flying finish?

FT - The Eurozone won the war, now it needs to win the peace - An opinative overview

The visionary ideal of an ever closer union ultimately leading to a true European Union remains as far-fetched as ever since current woes began triggered by the financial meltdown.

While apparently the sovereign debt crisis is headed for closure where it manifested harshest, there are far more questions than answers as to the future contours of a mutually advantageous monetary union.

The Eurozone comprises 18 economies whose differences are relevant not least amongst the big 3: Germany, France and Italy - for the incoming European Commission and Parliament to take very serious note of.

And eventually adopt a new approach to the entire European edifice.

On every ground one can think of it is unacceptable to tie countries down indefinitely, leaving them to fend for themselves and yet share a single currency. A currency that objectively does not bring gains to their respective economies. 

With so many formerly readily available monetary policy tools having been removed there is no leeway left in these countries to manage their own economic cycles.

Portugal is a good case in point. The country officially exits the bailout programme today without any cautionary safety net. There are reasons to rejoice at progress made restoring external balances, reducing the size of the State, sharpening the export sector and, perhaps, making the surviving economy leaner. These gains were achieved, inevitably to a degree, at an overwhelming social cost.

For Democracy's sake it is up to politics at national and European level to do 'whatever it takes' to mend societies hit hardest.

This needs to be done concurrently with every action taken to ensure that the ECB saved Euro works to the benefit of all countries sharing it, if not equally at least tangibly to most citizens.

Prolonged economic stagnation wherever is not an option by any seasoned yardstick.

TEc - One currency, divergent economies - The Euro conundrum

Now that the sovereign debt crisis appears headed for some sort of closure the time is ripe for the European Monetary Union to receive a longtime-much-needed shake-up.
The graphs show that the divergent performance of Eurozone economies is not sustainable, if ever.
The social cost of adjustment policies has been so high that one wonders what tangible steps will be taken going forward to face the consequences head on.

The EU remains at a crossroads where the gains of a handful stronger surplus economies is largely at the expense of factors directly making weaker economies more vulnerable still.
Deflation and a strong currency present formidable challenges that require urgent attention.
Even in France - the Eurozone's second biggest economy - there is growing perception that the Euro is undermining French competitiveness.

If a break-up of the single currency zone has been avoided the focus should now quickly shift to transforming the Euro into a winner for all the economies sharing it.

Portugal on track to exit the bailout programme - PM informs citizens

This is good news indeed crowning three long years of blood, sweat and tears for too large a number of people.

Of course the adjustment programme - as was implemented - had its effects felt unevenly across the board.

Yet again, those hit hardest by the draconian austerity drive were those who could least afford to on far too many instances. 

It might be said that such is the logic of the system when countries/States have no money left in the kitty.

The punishing contours of invited rescuer-creditors are blind and oblivious to any existing social matters or public policies to tackle them.

Portugal's leadership should know better by now. Hopefully.

It won't take long before citizens find out if they - government and opposition - have learned anything at all.

About the country's fundamentals, excessive reliance on external finance and the huge burden of existing debt.

All capped by the Eurozone's straitjacket.

Despite many flaws in the European Monetary Union and the missing blocks of EU institutions and politics, it still rests with national governments to take good care of respective countries.

To take on internal vested interests permanently, engage with civil society and govern for the common man in the street.

Or has Democracy's original worth been entirely and irreversibly hollowed out?

Throughout the tough three-year period the government's primary concern was clearly to please the trio of creditors. Perhaps understandably to a degree.

It is yet to be seen whether a welcome shift of focus will set in from May 17 that does not compromise main balances.

Balances that should never have swung so deeply into the red in the first place!