Eurocrash: theatre of the absurd

05/08/2012

However, even when in recent times, it has become so very obvious that we were seeing theatricals, there has been a tendency for media and other commentators to take events at face value.

For once, though, a newspaper is standing back from the fray and describing the current run of events as the "euro summer theatre". Needless to say, this is not a British newspaper, but Welt am Sonntag, which also identifies two "camps" of players in the ongoing drama.

In the one camp, known as the "alarmists", the paper has IMF chief Christine Lagarde, euro group chief Jean-Claude Juncker, and ECB chief Mario Draghi.

Alarmists, we are told, like to make dramatic warnings before major meetings, usually combined with a call for new billions to combat the crisis. The prime example is Mario Monti. Before the June EU Council, he warned that there must be easier access to bailout funds, otherwise "the euro would go to hell".

In the opposing camp, according to Welt am Sonntag, are the "appeasers", Federal Reserve Chairman Jens Weidmann, Chancellor Angela Merkel and federal finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble. This group is defined by its reluctance to spray funds around and for its emphasis on reform.

Another way of looking at the split one between tranzies and nationals, the former very much talking up the "beneficial" crisis, while the latter have to deal with the consequences. It is thus no coincidence that the tranzies should be alarmists.

There may also be other ways of defining the groups, especially if we pull in other players. But what is important about this piece is the recognition of the theatrical component to the crisis.

Much of the analyses we read would be greatly improved if their authors realised that we were being played by a group of actors seeking to promote their agendas rather than convey information. We are in many ways dealing with the theatre of the absurd - the trick is to sort the truth from the drama.