Eurozone Unemployment Hits Record High In April

Financial and economic problems continue to plague America making it easy to forget that Europe is also in a financial free fall. Unemployment in the Eurozone has hit a record high of 12.2%,a total of 26.5 million people. Rates of unemployment have hit almost 27% in both Greece and Spain. As a result, the Eurozone powers that be are rethinking austerity measures put in place to curb the free fall.  From ThinkProgress.org:

“French, Spanish, Italian, and Dutch leaders are being given a reprieve from some of the austerity rules imposed by the eurozone’s central government that have prevented them from pushing more money into their economies..”

American legislators should take heed as it continues to follow a similar strategy to the Eurozone, for example terms such as Debt Ceiling, Fiscal Cliff and Sequester has become household concepts.  Most recently, the proposed Farm Bill would cut Food Stamp allocation by 4 billion dollars.

As the world enters into its first prolonged exposure to Globalism it is natural to wonder if there is a relation between the financial problems of Europe and America. The economies of both regions are dominated by multinational corporations who continue outsource to areas of the world that remain weak in workers right’s legislation. A prime example is the Grecian Prime Ministers visit to China in the hope that China might be able to rescue Greece from its financial free-fall. In other words, Greece is disregarding the role that nations like China have had in destroying western economies and labor markets:

China sees Greece as a gateway into the European Union. Greece hopes to attract Chinese investment and to promote the export of Greek products to China.

The Greek financial press has reported that the Chinese expressed interest recently in buying the Greek state holding of 55.0 per cent in Athens international Airport.

Translation, China is trying to buy Greece. This is exactly what happens when there is an economic gun to the head of a nation as they try to protect the lives of their people and is exactly the same dynamic that is found in America as the inflation rate increases for life’s necessities and real wage increase remain stagnant.

Written by Matthew Cohen, MSW
SJS Staff Writer