The Hansa group is over. And several European capitals truly fear the Dutch may take down the euro.
My piece for @IrishTimes https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/this-time-the-future-of-the-euro-really-is-at-stake-1.4224394">https://www.irishtimes.com/news/worl...

A few myths need busting.
- Italy is a net EU contributor
- bailouts were loans not gifts
- no one has asked the Dutch for money
- net interest repayments, Greece, Italy, Ireland and Spain have run budget surpluses for a decade while NL has been in deficit https://twitter.com/alexandreafonso/status/1245343617285263361?s=19">https://twitter.com/alexandre...

& #39;Cursed words& #39; reveal a lot of history.
& #39;Memorandum of understanding& #39; is a forbidden word in Greece.
In Italy the initials for the European Stability Mechanism, & #39;MES& #39; are inherently spooky, an ominous shorthand like & #39;Troika& #39; in Ireland.
Look at Italian headlines today.

"If the Mes comes to Italy here& #39;s what will happen... a plan of tears and blood reforms," writes http://money.it"> http://money.it .
The compromise now sought is to offer the loans without the requirement for austerity.
The & #39;Mes& #39; branding will still be a problem for Italy though.