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EUROPE'S COMMON
·
MARKET
RISING
WORLD
COLOSSUS
Momentous, historie events are transforming Western Europe.
But most Americans are
0
asleep at the switch" to what is
happening. lt's time for
a
self-centered America to wake up
-
be fore her allies become her enemies.
by
Gene H. Hogberg
E
NVIS!ON
tbe startling future of
Western Europe.
A ten-nation union of perhaps
250 rnillion people, surpassing both the
United States and the Soviet Union in
economic strength, possessing for the
first time worldwide pol itical power and
influence. One news source recently
called it an "enormous, physically
powerful beast."
A new Western Europe controlling
perhaps half of all world trade, by
exclusive arrangements with dozens of
nations who produce raw materials.
A "United States of Europe" possess–
ing
one Jingle currency
-
a currency
so strong that it will replace the U. S.
dollar as the kingpin currency of world
trade. A United Europe developing
great military strength to protect its
unprecedented standard of living and
its Number One position in the world.
Visionary ideas?
Not at all. Such a European pow–
erhouse is now just over the horizon.
But the average American is largely
unawa re of the tremendous strides
Western Europe has made during the
past decade-and-a-half. His attention
hasn't been drawn to the periodic mile–
stones along the long road to European
unity.
Key Decision
February 9, 1971 may prove to be
the crucial milestone.
The eyes of most Americans were
focused that day on the return of
Apollo 14 and the earthquake in Los
Angeles. But in Europe representatives
of the six European Economic Commu–
nity countries quietly agreed on a three–
stage plan to achieve total economic
unity. The unity would be complete with
a
single currency foc
the entire trade
bloc - by the end of this decade.
Syndicated financia! writer Sylvia
Portee said the move launches "one of
the greatest experiments since the
empire of Charlemagne in the 9th
century." If successful, she said, the
decision will have a profound impact
on the lives of all Americans individ–
ually and "an even more dramatic
impact on the policies of
all
of us as a
nation."
Why was this step taken?
The answer líes, paradoxically, with
sobering events taking place in the
United States - especially its desperate
financial condition.
These events are having an impact
upon Western Europe to a degree most
Americans simply fail to grasp. But they
are propelling the nations of Western
Europe into a near-desperate quest for
unity against all odds. In their view,
it's either common, concerted action -
or the possible sacrifice of all the Com–
mon Market has tried to achieve since
its inception on January 1, 1958.
U. S. Fiscal Folly
Never before has the United States
- the world's most powerful single
economy - been wallowing in such an
ocean of red ink.
The current fiscal year, ending June
30, will end with an immense inter–
na! Federal deficit in the neighbor–
hood of $18,600,000,000 (that is
i7,750,000,000).
On top of this, the Nixon adminis–
tration has completely
,-eve1•sed the