The focus of the Erasmus essay is one chapter, ‘The Priest, the Sinner and the Non-Believer’ of Mr Tsoukalis’ book ‘In Defence of Europe’. Mr. Tsoukalis and his think tank ELIAMEP are not just advocates of the European Idea/Ideal, but its full time apologists! Just view the Wikipedia entries on ELIAMEP, and his own entry to confirm his status as a well credentialed, and decorated academic, whose  ‘think tank’ clearly demonstrates his status as  EU apologist:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellenic_Foundation_for_European_and_Foreign_Policy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loukas_Tsoukalis

The question that leaps to the mind of the regular reader is how long will The Economist continue to give credence to the shopworn construct of The Virtuous Norther Tier vs The Profligate Southern Tier, or iterations on the same theme? As descriptor of anything resembling ‘reality’ this dialectic has no cogency, except as the tool of public shaming of the Greeks, in defense of the European Ideology. In sum this ideology is built on the shaky foundation of German Economic Virtue. Can the reader take this at face value? Here is compelling challenge to that vaunted ‘virtue’ : Gillian Tett’s ‘a debt to history’ published on January 15, 2015 in the Financial Times:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/927efd1e-9c32-11e4-b9f8-00144feabdc0.html

The sub-headline is instructive:

To some, Germany faces a moral duty to help Greece, given the aid that it has previously enjoyed

In sum, Ms. Tett reports on an after dinner speech by economic historian Benjamin Friedman. Here is the quite stunning part, as reported by Ms.Tett:

‘For a couple of minutes Friedman then offered a brief review of western financial history, highlighting the unprecedented nature of Europe’s single currency experiment, and offering a description of sovereign and local government defaults in the 20th century. Then, with an edge to his voice, Friedman pointed out that one of the great beneficiaries of debt forgiveness throughout the last century was Germany: on multiple occasions (1924, 1929, 1932 and 1953), the western allies had restructured German debt.

So why couldn’t Germany do the same for others? “There is ample precedent within Europe for both debt relief and debt restructuring . . . There is no economic ground for Germany to be the only European country in modern times to be granted official debt relief on a massive scale and certainly no moral ground either.

“The supposed ability of today’s most heavily indebted European countries to reduce their obligations over time, even in relation to the scale of their economies, is likely yet another fiction,” he continued, warning of political unrest if this situation continued.’

The Economist and Mr Tsoukalis share both an ideology and an interest in the manufacture of usable propaganda,  even if that propaganda is couched in a complete perversion of any recognizable theology, and a self-willed for getting of history. The Economist/Tsoukalis ménage almost rivals the political theology of Carl Schmitt and his latter-day epigones !

Another question occurs, when does the ‘West’s’ leading newspaper begin to exercise ‘the due diligence’ that is the foundation of actual Journalism as opposed to highfalutin  propaganda?

Political Observer

http://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/2016/09/forgive-me-father