UKC

I've just been on holiday and took the opportunity to read Gavin Hewitt's book on the Euro crisis, The Lost Continent. Fascinating stuff which leads one to ask questions on the direction the EU should be taking, on what that means for the sovereignty of the member states and of course, what the UK's place should be in Europe: or perhaps even out of Europe in a free trade zone.

My problem is that I could do with a better understanding of economics and Euro politics to answer some of the questions the book raises.

Can anyone recommend me any books on macro economics/Euro politics that are fairly accessible to a layman.

In reply to Removed User: I personally find biographies a good way into most things. so reading hugo young on thatcher which covers major eu events like the single market then read a biography of major which covers maastricht.

will hutton is generally good the state we're in is considered a sort of classic.

Sovreignty is a fantasy. Bill clintons economic adviser got it right quite some time ago "when i come back from the dead i want to be the bond markets"

And this from an economic team that made everyone in the counry richer!!

The Uk is now and has been for 3-5 years on the peripheray, this will inevitably get weirdly more peripheral as the central euro core must integrate or die, while in contrast the peripery gets bigger as no one is seriously contemplating joining the euro as a conditions of being in the EU. Which interestingly was for a while a condition of membership.

there is a major conference going of in the east now including the latvia etc etc.

we will stay in the EU, a free trade Uk is a non starter as the tories have a mad fringe/activist base but a very rational funding base (eg City)

Osborne and Cameron have demonstrated very clear red lines to protect the city so the hedgies are happy enough.

my old first year politics text book has a chapter on UK and EU....

never forget the original name "the european coal and steel community"

al

In reply to Removed User:
The Great Deception by Christopher Booker and Richard North, it won't be high up on any Europhile recommendations list so you may wish to find some balance.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Great-Deception-European-Survive/dp/082647652X/...

In reply to drmarten: i was going to recomend hugo youngs this blessed plot but then i remembered i hadn't yet read it.

if eric's keen i can send it to him

In reply to Removed User:

Thanks very much.

Sounds like I've got my reading list sorted for the next few months...after I've finished Tony Blair's memoirs. Haven't got to his thoughts on Europe yet, it'll be interesting to compare them with previous Prime Ministers'.

In reply to Removed User:
Robert Peston also has good section son the Euro etc in his books how do we get out of this mess or some title like that

In reply to Removed User:
I've just looked up Gavin Hewitts book you mention. The full title is "The Lost Continent: Europes Darkest Hour since WW2".
I can think of several episodes I'd put above a crisis in the Euro as a contender for that title.
That aside, does Mr Hewitt come to a conclusion - in, out or shake it all about?

In reply to Removed User: http://www.testosteronepit.com/home/2013/10/22/france-clamors-for-currency-...

In reply to Removed User: its a few years old now but I'd recommend Hugo Young's 'This blessed plot' as a good intro- but you'll need something else for the last few years

In reply to drmarten:

He doesn't come to a conclusion as such. The book is more of chronology of what happened but I guess it's pitched in a certain way to raise questions in the readers mind.

Namely:

Can you have monetary union without political union? In fact probably not.

Are the differences in attitudes to financial prudence so different between different EU states that a monetary union will never work? The monetary union and the subsequent financial crisis has resulted in a lot of enmity between Germany and several other states and the rise of political extremism, especially in Greece. Just the sort of thing the EU is supposed to eliminate.

Further, the European political elite are committed to political Union while the ordinary people of Europe are not. This difference and dissatisfaction with the EU has increased since the Euro crisis. What do the Eurocrats really have in mind?

Hewitt describes how Berlosconi was effectively forced out of office by the European Central Bank, in other words a group of unelected bureaucrats. Can this be democratic?

If the Eurozone survives, Britain has the option of joining and surrendering sovereignty or not..if not it will be a squeezed by the emergence of a powerful European super state. Independence on the edge of Europe or security as part of a super state. What to do?

In reply to Removed User:
Thanks for the reply, he is asking very pertinent questions. I've got a backlog of books at the moment but may look at that in the future.