|
Prime Minister Stephen Harper is urging the euro zone to movequickly toward deeper integration as concern mounts over growingsovereign debt and banking sector troubles in Spain. More Related to this Story Further reading Transcripts of Harper s interview with Peter Mansbridge G7 finance ministers vow European action as Spain fears mount NDP hopes to trip up Tories with series of confidence votes onbudget In an interview with the CBC s Peter Mansbridge, Mr. Harper saystime is running out for European leaders to act and that changesmust go beyond the incremental measures that have allowed thefinancial crisis to remain unresolved for nearly four consecutiveyears. I do think in a sense, here, I don t want to sound too alarmist,but we are kind of running out of runway here. And in terms ofstructure of the euro zone and in terms of addressing theseproblems, we do need to see a broader game plan, Mr. Harper saidin an interview that was taped in London Tuesday for The National. The next meeting of G20 leaders is just two weeks away and thesummit in Los Cabos, Mexico is shaping up as a form of deadline forconcrete proposals on how to avoid the risk of another globalfinancial crisis possibly triggered by the failure of individualEuropean states or financial institutions. The run up to the G20 comes as officials in Spain warn its bankingsystem may need outside help. The G20 leaders will meet just days after the June 17 Greekelection, where a decision by voters to embrace anti-austerityparties could hasten Greece s exit from the euro zone. Mr. Harper, who is scheduled to meet with French PresidentFran ois Hollande in Paris Wednesday, said structural changes tothe euro zone are urgently needed regardless of what Greek votersdecide. We just can t say, Let s wait until the Greek election. Wecannot have a Greek election determining the future of the globaleconomy. That s not fair to anybody, he said. While Mr. Harper did not lay out detailed recommendations as towhat Europe should do, he did say there is a need for deeperfinancial integration among the member states. I think what has to happen is there has to be a seriousexamination of the shortcomings of the Euro structure, he said. Euro central institutions, whether it be fiscal policy, monetarypolicy, financial regulation, are simply not as robust as they arein a currency that has a national government behind it. And forwhatever reasons those things weren t felt necessary when the Eurowas conceived. But in a time of crisis to sustain the Euro theyhave to do a much bigger job of integration than they have doneuntil this point. The Euro in its present form will change. When Canada chaired the June 2010 G20 meetings in Toronto, Mr.Harper successfully urged the group of nations to commit to halvedeficits by 2013 and stabilize debt-to-GDP levels by 2016. Aprogress report last fall suggested the G20 was generally on tracktoward meeting that goal. However the tone of the public debate in Europe has shifted oflate, largely driven by the election of political leaders likeFrance s Mr. Hollande who say government policy should be focusedon growth. Mr. Harper insists its possible for nations to focus on austerityand growth at the same time. If you take those two phrases and say by fiscal discipline youmean cutting, and by growth you mean spending, then yes they areincompatible. But I don t think it s that simple of [an]equation, he said. I do think that all economies need a senseof fiscal discipline especially over the midterm and if you are inthe middle of a debt crisis you can t borrow your way out of adebt crisis. That s logically impossible. But at the same time youdo need, as we are doing in Canada, you need to undertake a rangeof measures, not just fiscal discipline, to ensure growth. Mr. Harper also admitted that he continues to be concerned aboutfallout for the Canadian economy. Look ... ever since mid 08 I have been constantly worried. Weremind Canadians of two things constantly: that Canada is doingbetter, much better, and our mid-to long-term fundamentals are muchsounder than virtually the rest of the developed world. At the sametime, we are in a global economy that has been recovering and thatrecovery is very fragile. I keep saying that. I think sometimespeople think when you say things often enough, it s just a mantra.It s not just a mantra. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as China Children Digital Watches , Analog Digital Watches, and more. For more , please visit Kids Analog Watch today!
Related Articles -
China Children Digital Watches, Analog Digital Watches,
|
