Germany has a history of destroying it neigbors for its own good in the past. Now in the 21st century context, is history repeating itself?? Germany keeps denying any resonable solution that could stop contagion and a bank run in europe, and every week we hear of yet another europeen contry falling into contagion.
Maybe they're still mad about the World Wars. There are no alternative solutions, either backstop or let Europe implode. Either Merkel is an idiot or evil.
I think its a selfish additude, the whoe euro should crumble but Germany should not take some risk. However if the euro falls apart, it might be even more expensive for Germany as well,
Italy, greece and spain have caused the problem, why should the hard working germans have to pay for the laziness of others. Germany knows that all three are bankrupt so there is no point in throwing good money after bad. Just let them default and begin to rebuild.
It's not that simple. Germany and France are basically running the EU, dictating what and how they want things done. They use and have used the power of EU as leverage. The current "crisis" is benefiting Germany as they are an exporting economy. The only comparison to Germany is Japan, just look at what kind of problems Japan is having due to the currency being where it is.
Japan was/is/and will always be a currency manipulating country. Don´t believe anything what central bankers and politicians are publicly "announcing". Japanese central bankers and politicians are direct helpers of Japanese banks "currency policies". Over 200% debt/GDP ratio and YEN regarded as "safe haven"? Tell this your grandmother.
I agree 100%, and Merkel is not an idiot. LOL @"hard working germans", you forgot "western germans", but thanks for the funny post, maybe the best of the week http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,799059,00.html Germany's Finances Not as Sound as Believed The German government likes to pride itself on its solid finances and claim the country is a safe haven for investors. But Germany's budget management is not nearly as exemplary as it would have people believe, and the national debt is way over the EU's limit. In some respects, Italy's finances are in much better shape.
Yen doesn't go up in crisis because it is a safe haven. It goes up in a crisis because when things are NOT in crisis, it is a massive funding currency, and when the shit hits the fan, people repatriate all that yen back. It is the massive unwinding of carry you are mistaking with "safe haven flows".
The formation of the German empire in 1871 is such a seminal event that the world never appreciated. The unification of 27 territorial German territories has permanently altered the power balance in Europe, the two world wars are just a manifestation of this. It is an inherently unstable structure that will lead to one of two things, a Europe which will henceforth be called greater Germany, or the partitioning of Germany back into its constituent states.