"Poverty has increased considerably in Germany and is now a social reality. And it makes Germany more inward-looking than the old West Germany, and a more defensive country."

Here we have a country running a trade surplus, and with high levels of public debt (higher than the Euro limit of 60% of GDP for the past several years), which has still let poverty increase, and they pretend to lecture the rest of Europe?

If the fiscal position of the state (large debt) and households (rising poverty) has deteriorated despite trade surpluses, who has benefitted? The balance sheet of private firms.

So the German people are being screwed by their government's subservience to the pecuniary interest of business leaders, and it's all the EU's fault!?

The brainless should not be in banking -- Willem Buiter