One of the most important figures in applied economics in Spain, c, doctor honoris causa from the University of Murcia and other Spanish and Latin American universities, gave a dissertation on the last third of a century at the Aula de Cultura de LA VERDAD this Tuesday. Europe, on a journey from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the war in Ukraine, from 1989 to 2022. Thirty-three years of history in which Europe moved from the idea of freedom and prosperity, and the euphoria of construction from a united Europe, to a succession of crises that became entrenched especially in the riparian countries, Spain among them, until it led to the refugee crisis that made German Chancellor Angela Merkel stagger. “Curiously in a figure that is not even a third of the Ukrainian refugees after the invasion of Russia,” García Delgado repaired.
A very different environment from the point of view of citizens and their leaders that manifests itself in multiple ways. Events that we never thought would happen, such as the reunification of Germany (1990) and the collapse of the Soviet Union (1991), unleash euphoria in Europe “because Europe has won the Cold War,” insisted García Delgado, with twelve countries in the European Community, which is gradually expanding. “Years of prosperity, in a self-congratulatory Europe, but also vulnerable, how we will see in 2008 (with the bursting of the housing bubble),” recalled the economist, former rector of the Menéndez Pelayo International University.
“The EU has always been built without being able to neutralize euroscepticism”, he stressed in his speech in Murcia, “so persistently that Jacques Delors, in charge of the European Commission between 1985 and 1995, commissioned a study on the costs of non-Europe. That Euroscepticism is transformed into something tougher like Europhobia, because it is about actively fighting through non-integration movements in Europe. Making history of the present implies being modest, he stressed, “because nothing that has happened in terms of disturbances was foreseen. In Spain it was said that we had the best banking system. Nor was this enormous flow of migrants expected for reasons of refuge in the Arab countries where it was thought from Europe that the wave of democratization would arrive. And when there are the first demonstrations asking for freedom and human rights, it is thought that it is at the door, but all this has resulted in failed states, in dictatorships worse than the ones that existed and in wars like the one in Syria, and millions and millions of refugees housed in Turkey”, summarized García Delgado.
Management of the unforeseen
Brexit, the departure of the United Kingdom from Europe, is another of those unforeseen circumstances, in 2016. The same as the health crisis due to the pandemic, and also the invasion of Ukraine with all that it implies of disturbances in the economy and in the energy supply. So, according to García Delgado, each of these events has produced a sequence: economic and financial crisis, refugee crisis, pandemic and war in Ukraine. “And in the face of confusion, the EU has been able to establish common guidelines,” the economist highlighted as interesting. And an example has been the community management of the pandemic and the response to Ukraine, maintaining significant cohesion in response to Russia.
“Therefore, when Europe advances the most, it is due to the crisis,” remarked the economist, who made mention of Europe’s geostrategic position. «Perhaps we are going to a different type of globalization, perhaps more regionalized, which will have to take into account the political vector. Maybe we have to establish ties with the countries we trust the most ».
García Delgado, who was introduced by the director of LA VERDAD, Alberto Aguirre de Cárcer, congratulated the newspaper on its 120th anniversary and said that “seniority is a degree and is an institutional and business hallmark, a sign of quality content and management”. He also pointed out that “Murcia university students are very grateful, because thanks to Cajamurcia and the support of Carlos Egea we have been able to have two applied economics meetings in Murcia, with an exemplary organization, which we always cite as an example,” said García Delgado, who he had a memory for Emilio Ontiveros, and cited Fukuyama and his end of history and Stefan Zweig and his stellar moments of humanity.
#García #Delgado #Aula #Cultura #VERDAD #Europe #advances #due #crisis