Charade of the Debt Crisis

In complex fields such as finance and economics, a common blunder involves a mix-up between the destination and the journey. The confusion is showcased by the hoopla during the financial crisis of 2008 in tandem with the debt crisis in Europe.

Among the rash of muck-ups, one example was the batty policy of the politicos for propping up the market for sovereign bonds in Southern Europe. According to the rhetoric of the ringleaders, an official default by Greece or any other country in the vicinity would shatter the common currency in Europe, and clobber the regional economy as well as the entire planet.

No doubt some of the actors in the public sector were taken in by the false arguments. If so, the goof-up stemmed from a patchy grasp of financial and economic issues. An example of this sort lay in the proper role of the banking industry in the economy at large. Another sample involved the true purpose and import of a currency union across neighboring countries.

Amid the din and smog, the politicos plundered the public treasury in order to prop up the battered securities. Sadly, the inept move was a huge waste of the taxpayer's money. Worse yet, the boondoggles hampered the real and financial markets, thus ensuring that the entire population would lose trillions of dollars worth of income foregone due to a crippled economy.

In any field of human enterprise, a solid grasp of means and ends is the first step toward fixing up a worthwhile solution while cutting down waste and beefing up productivity. The next step is to thrash out a trenchant plan that exploits the opportunities and avoids the pitfalls in the arena. The third task is to put the resulting plan into action with gumption and dispatch.

Dettagli