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2018 | Buch

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Troikanomics

Austerity, Autonomy and Existential Crisis in the European Union

verfasst von: Prof. Ray Kinsella, Dr. Maurice Kinsella

Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Enthalten in: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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The ‘Troika’ is a word that is scorched into the narrative of the EU’s banking and economic crisis – a triumvirate constituted by the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund. The modus operandi of the Troika is defined by the authors of this book as ‘Troikanomics’.

Ostensibly, the role of the Troika was to develop, coordinate and oversee the provision of conditional funding to support national governments in restructuring their economies. In fact, their power and influence extended far more widely. They enforced an unprecedentedly severe austerity programme of fiscal and structural adjustment through oppressive political oversight. Their practical impact was to impose on debtor countries in the EU periphery the single greatest economic and social dislocation in Europe’s recent history, thus corroding their autonomous capacities and enfeebling their national sovereignty.

The Troika’s word was law in those countries where its writ ran – Greece, Ireland, Cyprus, and to a more limited extent, Spain. It was answerable only to a trio of unelected organisations, far removed from the consequences of its policies on the lives of citizens. Widespread socio-political reaction to Troikanomics gave shape to the anti-austerity movement across the EU, characterised by the centre as ‘Populism’.

This book provides a timely response to the revisionist argument that there is no longer a ‘crisis’ in Europe. In their innovative analysis, the authors argue that Troikanomics is a manifestation of a deeper existential crisis within the EU that encompasses the centralisation of power, Brexit, Europe’s ominous militarisation and the progressive abandonment of its foundational values.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

1. Foundations of the Argument

Abstract

In this chapter we provide introductory reflections on core themes that are expanded on within this book, including a preliminary overview of the Troika and ‘Troikanomics’. Alongside this, we discuss our motivations for exploring these issues from a philosophical perspective. Our argument, in this context, is that recognising and recovering from the 'existential crisis' that is currently assailing the European Union (EU) requires a critique of the ‘givens’ that have contributed to the creation and perpetuation of this crisis (which continues to manifest itself in diverse ways). Until such time that the EU is willing to move past the 'Conventional Wisdom’ that has stymied its intellectual and moral development, it will not be able to embark on recovery in any meaningful or sustainable sense. If you begin with a flawed and contradictory EU (and Eurozone) that remains in crisis (notably, in Greece and Italy), and attempt to provide solutions without reflectively critiquing its underlying orthodoxies, then it is unlikely that these solutions will garner successful results. Existential crisis is, in such instances, likely to remain.

Ray Kinsella, Maurice Kinsella

Crisis and Catharsis in the Heartland of the European Union

Frontmatter

2. A Critical Inflection Point for the EU

Abstract

In this chapter we argue that the EU now finds itself at an inflection point in its history, in the form of an ‘existential crisis’—one that presents itself across a number of distinct-yet-related crises. The 'European Project' celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2017—celebrations muted by the impact of events such as the European Banking and Debt Crisis, and Brexit. It now faces into a period of change: change in the EC, in the Parliament, and in the Presidency of the ECB, together with proposed reforms. Two key issues rest on what lessons the EU has learnt from the events of the last decade and, by extension, how open the newly emerging regime will be to addressing the challenges of a new era. We argue that the EU’s capacity to move decisively beyond the various crises that trouble it is, in large part, dependent on the extent to which it acknowledges the reality of these crises (including the possibility of its own culpability in instigating and perpetuating them). This process of addressing the challenges revealed by Europe's economic catharsis is a necessary starting point for the longer-term project of reimagining the foundational, communally-orientated values that animated the vision of an embryonic EU—values that are wholly at odds with the stance and substance of Troikanomics.

Ray Kinsella, Maurice Kinsella

3. The EU Experience: Confronting the Existential Realities of the Crisis

Abstract

In this chapter we examine the ways in which the lead-up to, and subsequent unfolding of, the European Banking and Debt Crisis can be deemed an ‘existential’ experience. Beyond this, core existential themes act as a lens through which to refract the broader challenges being faced by the EU, and their constitutive components. This process provides insights which enable our critique to shift from being a ‘descriptive’ account of the crisis towards a ‘diagnostic’ assessment—facilitating an understanding of the mind-set currently possessed by the EU. To extend the analogy, Troikanomics can be seen as a wrong ‘prescription’ seeking to relieve the EU of ailments which are themselves in part rooted in a misdiagnosis of its pathologies. The irony is that the consequences of Troikanomics have instead compounded the negative prognosis facing the EU. It is increasingly incumbent on the EU to respond to these issues, to move beyond the cognitive dissonance between the aspirations that it espouses and the environment that it creates for its members. A willingness to challenge itself and risk a shift in mind-set is not so much about second-guessing itself; rather it is about being open to the creation of alternative viewpoints that may help in moving away from dysfunctional thinking and behaviours that it has become mired in.

Ray Kinsella, Maurice Kinsella

Development of the Crisis: Architecture, Agendas and Austerity

Frontmatter

4. European Monetary Union and the Challenge of Economic Integration

Abstract

In this chapter we reflect upon mechanisms underpinning the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), such as economic integration and ‘convergence criteria’. The central argument is that the Euro Project, from the outset, lacked an adequate architecture through which to support its own aims. Not only this, but the infrastructure that was established—alongside the environment that it fostered—actively undermined its stability. Integrated into this discussion is an examination of a cross section of significant antecedents of the European Banking and Debt Crisis. While we are mindful that there were significant precipitants of the crisis that were attributable to developments in the wider geopolitical climate (e.g. the US economic crisis), the factors that comprise the bulk of our discussion are considered to be ‘internally emanating’. These factors are multivariate; just as a storm emerges through the coalescence of more than one adverse weather condition, so too was the storm that assailed Europe formed from distinct yet connected elements, including: embedded competitive asymmetries, deficiencies in response mechanisms, unsustainable sovereign debt accumulation, and dysfunctional banking practices.

Ray Kinsella, Maurice Kinsella

5. The Troika and Austerity: A Destructive Dyad

Abstract

In this chapter we reflect on the genesis and experience of Troikanomics—a politically venal and discriminatory artefact operating as a ‘fiscal enforcer’ for dominant Eurozone countries. Its retrospective rationalisation is that, notwithstanding its flaws, it worked—in the sense that Europe is now recovering. This is, however, problematic; for example, Italy remains highly vulnerable, and the European economy is still hostage to political risk. This perspective also takes no account of the deeper socioeconomic scarring imposed by Troikanomics - whose costs have been transferred across generations. Nor, it should be added, of the latent risks that having enforced such a destructive adjustment process, it may revert to a similar approach in some future crisis—'well it worked before, didn't it?' Alongside this, it is important to acknowledge the measures that were taken by countries such as Ireland, on their own initiative, to foster recovery - contributing towards the adjustment process. Finally, Troikanomics set a pattern essentially based on a cult of dependency - that sense of the gravitational pull towards the centre rather than enabling and empowering countries to manage adjustment through their own autonomous capabilities. The reality is that under the yoke of Troikanomics, countries were constrained by the pressures of desperation, dependence, and duress. We should also note that the existential experience of Troikanomics slips so easily into a memory that is not shared by the current generation.

Ray Kinsella, Maurice Kinsella

Autonomy and the EU Experience

Frontmatter

6. Autonomy Within the EU: A Relational Perspective

Abstract

In this chapter we provide a philosophically rooted reflection on the concept of ‘autonomy’, focusing our discussion on an analysis of some of its core theoretical underpinnings as well as on its status as a lived capacity. This analysis draws on insights from the field of ‘personal autonomy’ and uses them as a reflective device in examining ‘national autonomy’. The ‘EU experience’, in particular in the aftermath of the European Banking and Debt Crisis, acts as the backdrop to our discussion. In adopting a ‘relational’ stance, we argue that although autonomy is an intrinsic capacity that is exercised by individual nations, relationships influence their capacity to recognise the existence of their autonomous capacities and exercise them. Indeed, strong and stable interactions (such as with other members of one’s community) are a crucial means through which autonomy is fostered. Autonomy helps to ensure EU member nations do not become subsumed under or subservient to more powerful orthodoxies. Troikanomics, however, has exemplified how the EU was colonised by an orthodoxy intent on subverting national autonomy and displacing countervailing sovereign status. In light of this, we ask whether it is still possible to speak meaningfully of the prospect of ‘autonomous’ member nations, and whether or not this is an aspiration that can survive within the EU’s current landscape. In this context, our analysis is not directly concerned with the autonomy of the EU itself as a distinct entity, but rather with the autonomy of the individual nations which comprise it.

Ray Kinsella, Maurice Kinsella

7. Case Studies: Exploring the Lived Reality of Troikanomics

Abstract

In this chapter we reflect on the lived realities and consequences of the European Banking and Debt Crisis and the policy responses that sought to curtail its actual and prospective consequences. This is most explicitly apparent in the imposition of what we define as 'Troikanomics' on peripheral indebted countries. In the two case studies on Ireland and Greece that we provide, we are not seeking to retread already well-worn ground. Instead, our objective is to ask how both countries’ journey through the crisis provides insights into the anomalies and anxieties of Troikanomics—highlighting how its mandate and implementation stand in opposition to the foundational aspirations and values of the EU. The legacy of Troikanomics has involved social costs, diminished national autonomy, and endowed a profound sense of vulnerability within the Union. There is an abiding sense that both countries’ history, culture, and values were of little regard in the design and imposition of their austerity reforms. The teams operating under the mandate of the Troika were professional, polite, and well dressed. But all of this belied their true intentions. When they reached out their hand, it was not in solidarity. Rather, it was to sequester what little of the autonomy that 'debtor' nations had left. What ‘solidarity’ there was, was strictly conditional upon their surrendering political and fiscal governance to the Troika.

Ray Kinsella, Maurice Kinsella

Where from Here? Charting the Trajectory of the EU

Frontmatter

8. The EU as a Communal Endeavour: Ideal and Reality

Abstract

In this chapter we explore the ethic of ‘community’ that is central to sustaining healthy transnational relationships within the EU. This invites an examination into the democratic ideals that underpin the EU—in particular, solidarity and sovereignty. The issue, in this context, is to ask why these are so central, and how they can be discharged in a manner that fosters the national autonomy of individual member states while simultaneously attending to the ongoing stability of the wider community. A key existential crisis that is assailing the EU at present is continued internal dissonance and the threat of further fragmentation. This will put at risk the extraordinary and providential achievements of Schuman, Monnet, Adenauer, and De Gasperi—and threaten a possible Balkanisation of the EU. A reluctance to challenge the prevailing Conventional Wisdom underpinning these developments will, inevitably, lead to continued fracturing. Our proposition is that rediscovering these foundational democratic ideals (with a particular emphasis on solidarity and subsidiarity) is indispensable to the resolution of the deeper existential crisis that the EU is undergoing.

Ray Kinsella, Maurice Kinsella

9. Troikanomics: Legacy and Lessons

Abstract

In this chapter we reflect on the legacy of Troikanomics, in particular as an expression of an existential crisis that continues to assail the EU. Drawing on the experience of its establishment and imposition, we discuss lessons that can be learnt that bear on the wider European Project's ability to perform as a democratic community. The era of the ‘Troika’ has been a time of great turmoil for the Eurozone and for the wider EU. For those countries compelledto enter into Bailout Programmes, it constitutes an existential epoch without precedent in modern European history. No dimension of people’s lives, or the autonomy of their governing authorities , was left unaffected by the intrusion of Troikanomics into their national psyche. It wasn’t alone the individual member nations caught up in these bailouts that were scarred by the experience. So too was the EU itself. Troikanomics made explicit a side of the EU that had not been witnessed to this degree before—a hegemony that has been willing to subjugate members’ autonomy so as to perpetuate a set of suboptimal institutional arrangements. The implications for ‘Project Europe’, 10 years on from the initial European Banking and Debt Crisis and as it approaches an era of profound change, are wide-ranging. These have to do with issues such as the EU’s identity, its purpose, and its values. In this context, what, if any, are the lessons that have been learnt over the last turbulent decade?

Ray Kinsella, Maurice Kinsella

Backmatter

Titel: Troikanomics
verfasst von: Prof. Ray Kinsella
Dr. Maurice Kinsella
Verlag: Springer International Publishing
Electronic ISBN: 978-3-319-97070-7
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-97069-1
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97070-7