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Communication/ soundbites / leaks from Germany have consisted for over a month now in back-and-forth "they're secretly planning to bail Greece out" / "they have no intention whatsoever of doing so", "rather the Greeks or other Club Meds be kicked out of the euro" or even "rather Germany should quit the euro".

The impression one gets is that no one in Germany is receptive to the idea that Germany benefits from the Union, the single market, the single currency, or that German policy over this decade in depressing wages and social budgets in order to gain competitive advantage and keep inflation and therefore ECB interest rates low, has had any conceivable ill effect on Eurozone partners (such as, for example, helping offer lower real interest rates to countries that might have been wiser to borrow less... and whose private and some public debt has gone into buying German consumer and capital goods).

If, behind this convincing display of obtuseness and arrogance, there is a secret Game Plan, it's devilishly well hidden. What might it be?

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Thu Mar 18th, 2010 at 11:33:45 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I think there's a simple explanation: rightwingers don't do 'we'.

The brainless should not be in banking -- Willem Buiter
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Mar 18th, 2010 at 11:38:02 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Germany is acting like the English caricature of Germany.

Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin
by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Thu Mar 18th, 2010 at 11:38:11 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Maybe Migeru is right and I'm giving Merkel & Et.Al., GMBH, credit for more brains than they've got?

The key - in my estimation - conflict is NOT the Greek government bond foo-foo or even the euro per se; it's whether the Post War dollar hegemony is going to continue.  The euro is poised to be a acceptable alternative to the dollar.  Naturally those who depend on the dollar hegemony aren't happy which includes other financial and economic entities outside the US, inside the eurozone.  

by ATinNM on Thu Mar 18th, 2010 at 12:38:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]
politicians are scared to ask the German population, which is already, to a good extent, a victim of these policies, in the form of stagnant wages, and savings destroyed by stupid investments in crazy products by dumb banks they are bailing out as taxpayers, to pay again for Greece.

Germans are unhappy of their economic situation, but feel righteous about it (they took the stagnation on the chin rather than thriftily borrowing to keep on spending).

They would probably welcome increased wages, but have been brain-washed, for good and bad reasons, that this would be a dangerous thing to do (bring back inflation, make them less competitive, cost jobs, etc...).

Wind power

by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Thu Mar 18th, 2010 at 12:40:37 PM EST
[ Parent ]
hey, where did the Keynes quote go???
by crankykarsten (cranky (where?) gmx dot organisation) on Thu Mar 18th, 2010 at 12:47:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Gone With The Wind ;)
by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Thu Mar 18th, 2010 at 12:48:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]
word punnery par excellence :-)
by crankykarsten (cranky (where?) gmx dot organisation) on Thu Mar 18th, 2010 at 12:50:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]
In the long run, all quotes are changed.

Wind power
by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Thu Mar 18th, 2010 at 01:13:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Sometimes I wish our American politicians were so scared of us American taxpayers who have similarly had no wage growth that they refused to bailout the bankers.

Ah, who am I kidding??!

by Upstate NY on Thu Mar 18th, 2010 at 04:35:47 PM EST
[ Parent ]
they are scared enough  of using taxpayer money to help Greece, but not enough to not bail out the banks....

Propaganda works, if you get such results...

Wind power

by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Fri Mar 19th, 2010 at 05:20:29 AM EST
[ Parent ]

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