Before I get to them, however, non-European readers should be aware that Munchau is using the word "liberal" in the German sense, which is very heavy on laisser-faire, free market economy - what most of us here mean by the term.

His opportunistic anti-American election campaign in 2002 damaged traditionally good relations with the US.

Schröder's "opportunistic Antiamericanism" consisted of saying, loudly and clearly, that Germany would not participate in any military expedition in Iraq (and his opponent just waffled). The W-ites of course were pissed, and churlish. But it won him the election. And I still think he was right.

...relaxation of hiring and firing laws abolishing the wage cartel between employers and trade unions.

Wage cartel? Excuse me, that's just good old-fashioned collective bargaining, practiced on an industry level. Incidently, this collective bargaining system is one of the reasons that for decades Germany had one of the lowest rates of work days lost to strikes in the world.

As for the "hiring and firing laws", German labor law recognizes - and seeks to redress - the power imbalances betweem employer and employee, including with respect to dismissals (if the company has a works council, that body is also entitled to review hirings for fairness - but that is subject for another diary).

"Ideas or the lack of them can cause disease." - Kurt Vonnegut