THE CLASS STRUGGLE IN OTHER NAME

THE CLASS STRUGGLE IN OTHER NAME
Posted on Tuesday, February 22 @ 20:55:00 CST marcoc

Vicenç OF NAVARRO
Público translation: Valter conti

We are living in the flood-conservative neo-liberal led by Chancellor Angela Merkel, who proposes implementation of reforms in the eurozone, targeted at improve the competitiveness of the countries that compose it, on the basis of a reduction in wages and rights
workers. With such an attitude assumes that the competitiveness depends mainly on earnings, so that their variation will be an increase in downward increase competitiveness, allowing a decline in prices that will make products cheaper and therefore it increase competitiveness. In support of his theory, Merkel speaks of Germany, whose high competitiveness is based, according to the Registrar in the "moderation wage ", words used in the neo-liberal discourse to define a process in which wages are frozen or reduced, while productivity increases.

The problem with this theory is that the data do not support this thesis. As well documented Ronald Janssen in his article European Economic Governance: The Next Big Hold Up On Wages, known magazine in respective Europe Journal (02-03-2001), the famous competitiveness Germany has little to do with the level of wages,
with their moderation or the prices of products Germany exports. The export success German is not based on their prices, as has been documented by the European Commission in its report of 2010 that came to the conclusion that the German export growth during the period 1998-2008 (annual growth of 7.3%) is due substantially to the growth of imported goods.

Only 0.3% is due to the change in the prices of exported products. The miracle of German export must, primarily, to the enormous growth of Imports of German products in particular by emerging economies. It is produced as Telecom technological equipment, infrastructure Transport and others. The export success is therefore be attributed to the expertise rather than price products. Econometric studies conducted in Germany have shown that a 10% reduction on the price of the product, increase the export of only a
4%. From these and other data can be deduced that the moderation
wage that took place during this period Germany was not done to reduce the price (which is not are reduced) but to increase business profits, which have reached unprecedented levels. The percentage of the profits of the enterprise sector of manufacturing and other export industriel has increased a 36% gross value added in 2004, and a 48% in 2008. Meanwhile, wages, remain unchanged.

And this is the reason for the Conservative-reasoning neoliberal. The goal is not the economy or defense competitiveness, but the interests of big enterprises (including banks, of course) at the expense of workers. That 's what was called the first battle of
class, which is now hidden under the panegyric competitiveness. And this is the model that the Chancellor Merkel and her party (which belongs to family policy of the Popular Party in Spain,
or of the People of Freedom party in Italy [1]) wants introduced in the EU. These business interests and securities are the same as those being promoted with the same reasons as in Spain, pressing for a reduction wages. Want to drive down wages to increase
profits, defending their thesis with the idea that a reduction in wages would increase exports, helping the economy. But exports to Spain continue to increase, as well as increased the productivity and increased wages in a Similarly, proportionately, in Germany, as
Mark Weisbrot pointed out in his article Spain's Tied to Trouble are Eurozone Policies, The Guardian (01/29/2001). In fact, as in Germany, variability of prices is not conclusive on the extent
of Spanish exports. Even in Spain, as in Germany, the key is the demand of importing countries.
Reduce wages in Spain with the purpose of influencing the
competitiveness will require a substantial cut in wages because the effects are noticed. And these cuts negatively affect domestic demand.

And this is the crux of the issue in Spain and the EU. Their exports do not depend so much from price of their products as to their application, which depends, in turn, the growth of the internal market and importer, which includes mainly countries of the eurozone. Spanish exports are based on high and medium technology products (manufactured goods) as in Germany, and agricultural, fisheries and Crafts of low and medium technology, which
export and consumption depends more on the quality of the
price. The most important factor in exports Spanish is the growing purchasing power of the countries importers such as Germany (which depends on the level of their wages). Hence the reduction of wages in Germany, as well as in Spain (and other countries
Eurozone) is necessarily against the increase in the trade, reducing the demand for both domestic and outside, delaying significantly the resilience European economies.

What is happening is that eurozone interest Financial and large firms are using crisis, which they themselves have created, to get what who have always wanted: the reduction to elimination of social rights, labor and of the political classes in general, and
working class in particular. And this must inform the public.

[1] I believe it is necessary to make the comparison with Italy,
as readers recognize more quickly Key features