Finland, together with other EU countries with strict economic discipline, could show that the pandemic now requires exceptional measures.
Coronavirus has penalized states ’economies when the pandemic has not been brought under control. The virus has caused an even more severe shock to the economy than the 2008 financial crisis. Now the economy needs bold action.
Europe’s response to the crisis has been weak. The failure is due to the difficult relationship between the EU institutions and the Member States.
Pandemian perpetuals, ie perpetual loans that would never have to be repaid – would now be needed to revive a penalized economy – they will only be charged an annual interest rate.
The idea may sound radical, but perpetuals have been used for centuries. Britain launched perpetuals called consoles as early as 1752 and also used them in the early 19th century to fund the wars against Napoleon. The United States issued consoles in the 1870s. In the Netherlands, perpetuals were used as early as 1648 to finance waterworks: these first perpetuals in the world are still in force, but because of the low interest paid on them, few even know about it.
Perpetual bonds should be issued now that interest rates cannot fall below this. Perpetuals could be introduced to the financial markets gradually so that the markets could get to know them in peace.
In the current situation, it is impossible for perpetuals to be mobilized by the European Union instead of its Member States. Despite several political breakthroughs, the EU does not have the power to raise as much money from member states as would be needed to fund the fight against a pandemic.
Now The governments of the EU Member States must act. Individual countries should launch perpetuals to fund the fight against the coronavirus.
The “tight five” – which I include in addition to the Netherlands, Austria, Sweden and Denmark but also Finland – has more credibility in the capital markets than countries like Italy and Spain. These countries, known for their austerity, could demonstrate, by mobilizing perpetuals, that economic discipline does not conflict with exceptional action required in an emergency such as a pandemic.
The European Central Bank (ECB) has already effectively created perpetuals by buying huge amounts of government bonds as part of its banknote financing program. The central bank has virtually no choice but to keep this debt for the foreseeable future.
The sale of the debt collected by the ECB would cause too much market instability. Forcing the countries of origin of the bonds to repurchase the loans, on the other hand, would be far too harsh to create chaos in the market. As the ECB’s liabilities approach their maturities, they will be replaced by new bonds, and the cycle will continue well into the future. Banknote financing has virtually turned fixed-maturity bonds into perpetual debt.
States however, there is a significant difference between the perpetuals issued by the bank itself and the perpetual debt generated by the ECB’s banknote financing. If member states issue perpetuals, they will benefit permanently from low interest rates. On the other hand, if national governments issue ordinary bonds to pay off the ECB’s maturing loans, they may have to pay a higher interest rate in this case.
Perpetuals launched by states themselves are also a more democratic option. Now, perpetual debt is created by an ECB institution that is not directly accountable to the voters of any particular Member State.
The ECB’s limited role is to oblige the central bank to maintain price stability in the euro area in the long run. This mandate should not be used to guide European governments in the event of a coronavir emergency. European countries must respond to the crisis by all necessary means, and perpetuals are perfectly suited to this end.
George Soros
The author is the chairman of the Soros Fund Management and the Open Society Foundation.
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source https://pledgetimes.com/guest-pen-perpetual-loans-are-needed-to-get-europe-on-its-feet/
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