Fetishising Meaningless Figures at the Expense of the Welfare of Millions of Europeans

Check the image credit. 

What a farce. 

The Italian government has to beg the EU for charity in order to pursue a socially responsible economic policy. 

But the EU figureheads and their bureaucrats do not relent, insisting that their totem be worshiped — the procyclical and antisocial Maastricht criteria whose observance boils down to fetishising meaningless numbers at the expense of the welfare of millions of Europeans.

It is the high priests against the masses, while the better off Europeans sneer at their disadvantaged brethren.

Where are the calls for socially acceptable policies?

Where is the left? Well, the left left long a go. They are more into protecting the environment than human beings. While the problems with the environment are fictitious, the hardship suffered by millions of people in the EU are real.

The decision to increase spending was “difficult though necessary,” Tria [Italy's Finance Minister] said in his letter. He cited slow economic growth and the “difficult economic situation the poorest segments of the Italian society are facing.” 

Seeking to placate Brussels, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, speaking in Rome, said the deficit target should be seen as an upper limit and it could still be narrower.

The source.

See also my Balance The Economy, Not the Budget and here.