A Nagging Issue for the Euro-zone

"Nagging - the interaction in which one person repeatedly makes a request, the other person repeatedly ignores it and both become increasingly annoyed ..." Personality differences create fertile ground for nagging such as organized personalities conflicting with relaxed personalities.  One assessment tool, Kolbe Assessment, identifies problem solving strategies related to personality traits.  Aside from an assessment tool, the first step in addressing a nagging issue is to "admit you are stuck in a bad pattern".  (Bernstein, WSJ 1/25/12)

Even though this article was focused on nagging as a marriage killer, it is not a leap to see its implications for the Euro-zone crisis and recent fiscal pact negotiations.  France and Germany has repeatedly demanded that Italy, Ireland, Spain and Greece pass austerity measures and bring their respective governments in line with the EU Treaty.  France and Germany have, arguably, the greatest to lose if these governments fail to correct because French and German banks have invested a lot of money during the bubble in these countries.  It is widely believed in Greece that Germany is indirectly bailing out its own banks using Greece as the smoke screen.

It is not that Italy, Ireland, Spain, and Greece are purposefully ignoring France and Germany, but that these countries - being the ones that have to endure the fiscal pain - are taking their time moving the measures through their governments.  France and Germany are acting with urgency and Italy, Ireland, Spain and Greece are acting cautious.  The cautiousness is a reaction to the urgency by Germany and France.  The harder the push and the harsher the rhetoric, the greater the likelihood that the austerity measures will be window dressing and short lived.  These are fundamental cultural differences that cannot be overcome with a treaty.

Germany is the steam engine for the European Union and treasure chest for the Euro-zone.  France is strong with its financial sector, but weak as it is overly regulated with laws protecting workers.  Spain has very high unemployment as does Italy, Ireland and Greece alongside over regulation like France.  Those infrastructure projects funded with cheap European Union capital investments propped up rotten labor markets and stopped when the bubble burst.

The progressive nature of entitled workers is deeply woven in the culture of Italy, Ireland, Spain, and Greece.  France is less so as it has better governance over its citizens and can strongarm them.  It does not take a Kolbe Assessment to understand problem solving strategies differ greatly between Euro-zone countries.  There is evidence that Spain believes residential building will save its economy - buyers for the residential properties seem to be a detail left for later.  Although, Spain's strategy is ludicrous based on recent lessons learned from the U.S. housing market bubble, it is in line with a culture for whom ignorance is habitual.

The first step for the Euro-zone's recovery is admitting it is stuck in a bad pattern.  The second step is identifying, building, and supporting commonalities.  The third step is "rinse and repeat" as it takes, on average, 21 times doing an action to create a habit.

Sources:
Elizabeth Bernstein, Meet the Marriage Killer: It's More Common than Adultery and Potentially as Toxic, So Why is it so Hard to Stop Nagging? Wall Street Journal, Personal Journal D1-D2, January 25, 2012.