We Europeans are all 'PIIGS'… and Anglo-Saxons are 'Usuk'

In the past few months, a “new” acronym has been increasingly blossoming in the Anglo-Saxon press: “PIIGS”1, in a friendly reference to the economies of Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain!

The expression is revealing of the level of hatred some Anglo-Saxons in the field of finance and economy have for the European Union. The aim is clearly to vex and demean. These people obviously don’t control themselves anymore! It is not by coincidence that they invented the word in 2008, year when the shining economic models they were selling throughout the world were smashed into pieces.

Moreover we have recently become aware that PIGS’ debt problems as stigmatized by the Anglo-Saxon press had been in fact created by Anglo-Saxon banks and financial advisers themselves, Goldman Sachs suddenly appearing as the absolute PIGS-maker, a true heir of the antic Circe2, herself daughter to Helios3, who turned Ulysses’ comrades into pigs.

Another intention (conscious or not) is to pretend the EU is divided: “there are PIGS and there’s you, of course”, “why should you help PIGS?”, etc... These people’s dream is that the EU doesn’t exist, that the Euro was never invented4 and that Eurozone countries in economic difficulties would still be compelled to call onto their IMF so that they can go on deciding upon sovereign states’ policies. Too bad for you, guys, the EU exists and PIGS are the EU. So when you call them PIGS you call the whole of Europe PIGS!

Officially Spain and Portugal (the latter mostly) have actively denounced the expression as pejorative. Unofficially, all continental Europeans are shocked and vexed. And it would be a good idea if the European Commission or European Parliament denounced it as well in our names.

“Crise oblige”, this group of “Southern” European countries is relentlessly growing. Ireland and (ironically) Great-Britain are beginning to appear on the list (PIIGGS)… If we add to this list all those countries which resorted to Goldman-Sachs’-type of debt mechanisms, it will become difficult to recognize the insult originally spat at our noses.

According to some, PIGS is only an 'easy-to-remember technical economic term'! Well, to keep on going with the acronym's creativity, we could also coin another 'technical term' to designate the two main global finance messmakers, US&UK, and we could even write it this way : Usuk. Easy to remember, isn't it?

Masha Loyak

1 In fact the acronym was forged in 2008 by a bunch of US&UK financial and economic journalists for four countries (Portugal, Italy, Greece, Spain – PIGS) in regards to these countries specific sovereign debt markets : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PIGS_%28economics%29