The nations comprising the EU are giving the European's Union's Central Banking Authority (the "ECB") true governing powers over each of their respective central banking systems. This promises to be an experiment in multi-culturalism; diplomatic relations and conflict resolution; divided loyalties and the surrender of many powers formerly taken for granted; the often vilified (with or without reason) New World Order, at least amongst the member nations; the core traditions of sovereignty; and, financial stability, orderliness and transparency over an enormous "Financial Nation State." This is not a mere engagement -- it is a multi-partnered marriage united by its overall monetary policies, controls and new institution.
It is, by analogy, a consolidation of cultures, powers and economies not bound by mere agreements to discuss differences between nations and arrive at pronouncements and sometimes unenforceable sanctions, pronouncements and meaningless calls to action, all of the aforementioned being cited often as major failings of The United Nations.
By way of example, the UN has been called such things, in turn, as "a bully pulpit," "a permanently unresolved conversation," a "paper tiger" and a "forum controlled by the members who possess the greatest military and monetary power" - former US President Dwight D. Eisenhower might have said that the UN was a puppet in the hands of the world's largest military-industrial complexes.
Before we go further into this, you might want to read a wonderful article excerpt from a Global Newsletter published by SmartBrief publications (always an excellent source of information):
ECB's transition into bank supervisor moves forward
EU lawmakers have struck a deal with national governments on legislation to give the European Central Bank authority as a banking supervisor. "This is the largest step toward integration since the euro," said Sven Giegold, a member of the European Parliament involved in the negotiations. "It will break with the culture of soft-touch regulation." The deal also bolsters the European Banking Authority's power to ask national regulators for information. Bloomberg (19 Mar.), The Washington Post/The Associated Press (19 Mar.), Reuters (19 Mar.), The Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones Newswires (19 Mar.)
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This is a move toward internationalism, and readers of The Internationalist Page Blog might see it as a trend-setting compromise which puts other political differences in the back seat, and puts economics at its core. Still, as the author of The Global Futurist Blog, I see a tremendous concentration of power and a potentially dangerous dependency.
Centralization of power, any power, might be a good thing from the standpoint of command, control and communications logistics, but it also leads to 1) an isolation of the centralized institution from the vast geopolitical complex it is supposed to fairly govern and preserve (the analogy might be "Wall Street versus Main Street" or US Legislators out of touch with their constituents and involved in internal battles atop Mount Olympus whilst the common citizens suffer for the lack of any attention), and 2) an unchecked power unto itself -- and these invariably become like meta-statically growing juggernauts forgetting about their missions and focusing only on their own growth and expansion of their powers and wealth.
At any rate, this is a multiparty joint venture. And joint ventures amongst more than two parties always have their biases, conflicts and polarities.
Here's hoping that the newly-empowered ECB will serve its constituents before it may develop too strong an appetite to simply serve itself.
Thank you, as always, for reading me and for sharing my articles with your social media contacts.
Douglas E. Castle
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