Weekend Economists Volvemos a Puerto Rico May 22-25, 2015

[Demeter]

22. Stubborn and Egotistical: Europe Is Right to Doubt German Euro Leadership

AMAZING DIATRIBE AGAINST MERKEL AND CO....FROM MARCH, 2013

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/opinion-german-euro-leadership-stubborn-and-egotistical-a-890848.html

Throughout Cyprus's financial crisis, German power has been on display. But Germany is pursuing the wrong ojectives, showing how it's incapable of wielding its power correctly...What is the chancellor's word actually worth? Cyprus has shown once again that Europe can't rely on the Germans....

But the theatrics of the past week fit well into the image Europe is projecting right now: Irresponsible bankers gamble away the money of even richer money-launderers, and the politicians help both groups to save themselves as best they can -- at the expense of the common people, who have neither the resources nor the influence to bring themselves to safety. And all of that takes place under German domination.

That was a sign. The chancellor indulges herself and the Germans in the luxury of navel-gazing. Historical memory is essentially wiped away, good for little more than cozy evenings when we wrap ourselves in blankets and ogle at the moral failures depicted in World War II TV dramas, like the recent German miniseries "Our Mothers, Our Fathers."

But this means nothing for the present. Just like twice before in our recent history, the Germans are falling deeper and deeper into conflict with their neighbors -- regardless of the cost. It's a path that could easily lead to fear of German political hegemony on the Continent. Indeed, Merkel's idea of European integration is simply that Europe should bend to Germany's political will.

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