It belongs to the quality of any good manager to be able to see things with the right perspective.\u00a0 To see the big picture and avoid getting confused by irrelevant details. \u00a0And to take the right decision \u2013 however painful that decision might be in the short-term.<\/p>\n
Take Greece.\u00a0 There is a lot of rubbish written by journalists about Greece these days.\u00a0 There is no denying that the Greek population is currently under great distress \u2013 and the medium-term future of Greece does not look particularly rosy.<\/p>\n
But for the future of the Euro, for the overall European economy, for the European and world stock markets: the truth is that whatever happens in Greece, the impact on the world will be negligible. Whatever the outcome of the crisis is \u2013 a bankrupt Greece in default and potentially without the Euro, or a Greece assisted by its neighbours in a less painful transition phase \u2013 the impact on the rest of Europe will be small.\u00a0 So don\u2019t worry, things will be all right in the end.<\/p>\n
Bluntly speaking, Greece does not matter because Greece is a small country population wise, and its economy only represents about 1.5% of the total European GDP of \u20ac14 trillion per annum.\u00a0 So does 1.5% more or less GDP in Europe matter much? At the level of Greece, it does. But not at the level of Europe.<\/p>\n
The two key powers in Europe pushing for a resolution of the crisis \u2013 namely France and Germany \u2013 are proposing different solutions.\u00a0 Mr Sarkosy of France is pushing for a bail out of Greece, where Mrs. Merkel of Germany, even if she says otherwise, would really like the Greek to solve their problems on their own without the German tax payers footing the bill.<\/p>\n
If this sounds generous from the former, and selfish from the latter, don\u2019t forget that any country involved in this discussion mostly follows its self-interests.\u00a0 With French banks more engaged in Greece than German banks, France also has more to lose.<\/p>\n
In Germany, 20 years after the reunification, transfer money worth more than \u20ac100bn per annum is still sent from the West to the East.\u00a0 Every year.\u00a0 Cumulated over more than 20 years, the total sum involved has been more than \u20ac2 trillion.\u00a0 Historically and humanly, the German reunification has been a success \u2013 a tough pill to swallow, but viewed in the long term, the right and only right decision.<\/p>\n
Now, Greece is a smaller country than the former East Germany.\u00a0 And the issue facing Greece and Europe in the near term is whether the Europeans are ready to sign a check for \u20ac100bn.\u00a0 All European countries together contributing to a sum that is broadly what the West Germans sent to East Germany every year.\u00a0 How big is that a problem?<\/p>\n
Another way to look at it:\u00a0 take \u20ac100bn divided by 400m Europeans.\u00a0 So we are really talking about 250 Euro per inhabitant.\u00a0 Does the problem still seem insurmountable?\u00a0 If you were German and had a choice to send you 250 Euro annually to East Germany (sorry, the \u2018former East Germany\u2019) or Greece, wouldn\u2019t you agree that the Greeks currently need that money more than the Eastern Germans?<\/p>\n
The true question that we are facing with the Greek crisis is which kind of Europe we want.\u00a0 The EU has been created by its founding fathers after the end of World War II to try to put an end to more than 500 years of wars in Europe.\u00a0 Today, faced with the rise of giants like China and India, the European integration has to be pushed further.\u00a0 Economic integration and a single currency is good, but the ultimate goal is a deeper political integration.\u00a0 This will take time, but Europe cannot stand still.\u00a0 So the resolution of the crisis in Greece will tell us which kind of Europe our current head of states want in the future.<\/p>\n
The European integration process might be slow, painful and frustrating, but it has put an end to centuries of war and chaos.\u00a0 If there is a price to pay for that, there is no question that the price is worth paying.\u00a0 Seen from this angle, the German stance on the Greek problem demonstrates a lack of maturity in German politics, and absence of vision for Europe and its destiny.<\/p>\n
Think about the next 100 years \u2013 Europeans will have to be a lot more united in order to face the bigger challenges that will undoubtedly arise.\u00a0 The Greek problem is a drop in the ocean in comparison.<\/p>\n
So let us hope that our politicians will come to the right conclusion quickly, including a long-term solution the Greece challenges (a Marshall plan for Greece?).\u00a0 And then let us move on to build a stronger Europe, speaking with a united voice to address the big issues that will really matter in the 21st<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It belongs to the quality of any good manager to be able to see things with the right perspective.\u00a0 To see the big picture and avoid getting confused by irrelevant details. \u00a0And to take the right decision \u2013 however painful… <\/p>\n