> However, I do not see how the
> fall of the Euro can take place without creating a massive crisis for
> the working class. The prospect of the fall will open a speculative
> bonanza on a scale not seen before - which will likely produce
> inflation, whereas employment will likely fall.
Can you explain your logic in more detail? Do you mean speculation on the resurrected currencies, why would that increase inflation and unemployment (as a whole over the EU)?
> whether the European Central Bank is worth saving
> in its current form. It is possible, but unlikely, to redesign this
> institution to serve the interests of society and labor rather than
> those of the capital.
I think that if that could happen then Yanis Varoufakis' proposals could work the way he intends them to. But Mark Weisbrot has it right, the ECB is a creature of the dominant EU economies (of their capitalist classes that is). What has happened is that German and French capitalisms have knocked out the Irish, Greek and Portugese ones (starting from a more advanced base, reigning in wage increases, and preventing adjustment through devaluation).
The next steps are to force a drastic decrease of living standards and expectations on the periphery, then to import that back into the core. Stand in solidarity with the poor Irish, accept retirement at 65 and a health care system from 1930!
I don't think this can be averted without a major defeat of the EU core capitalist classes, such as being forced to abandon the Euro. If workers participate in this, maybe they'll get an appetite to make them disgorge and use the proceeds to help places that could use some development.
I've asked Doug what he thinks of Yanis' proposal but I'm an lbo newb (after 11 years of lurking) so I can only hope:)