In 1914, on the eve of the First World War, the British foreign secretary Sir Edward Grey looked out of his window at the street lamps being lit, and said "The lamps are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime". Now, on the eve of the Brexit referendum, I fear the lights may be about to start going out again in Europe -- and this time the first place to fall dark will be Britain. The European Union was built on a dream. Not a dream of common markets or … [Read more...]
Distracted by its own din, Europe cannot hear the gathering storm
April 18, 2012 by 2 Comments
The wolves are circling Europe. The emerging economies of Asia and South America sense weakness. Day by day, they are pushing the boundaries, seeing how far they can go, testing a new world order. But inside the camp, the old European economies are too deafened by the din of their own internal squabbles to hear the approaching danger. This week it was Spain's turn, as Argentina nationalised the Spanish-owned majority stake in its largest oil company. The Spanish government warned of … [Read more...]
