The Lies of Angela Merkel

Angela Merkel may be despised on the streets of Athens, but she is riding high in the recent polls conducted in Germany.  Germans apparently feel that Angie is looking out for German interests as she admonishes the rest of Europe to cut spending.

The new president of Germany, Joachim Gauk, rained on her parade with some (admittedly mild) criticism that the chancellor "has a duty to explain in a very detailed way" what the policies designed to save the single currency meant for the average person.

But Stephan Hebel in the Frankfurter Rundschau has a much harsher assessment of Angela Merkel's crisis management.  The Eurozone in its present form cannot survive, and the chancellor's Germany-centric policies that play well to German electorate are dishonest:

Die Euro-Krise sagt uns also vor allem eines, und genau das sagt die deutsche Kanzlerin nicht: Schon die gemeinsame Währung selbst trug Züge einer imperialen, am vordergründigen nationalen Interesse ausgerichteten Politik der deutschen Regierungen. Und es ist genau diese deutsche Vorherrschaft, die Merkel retten will, wenn sie sagt, sie rette den Euro.

Wollte sie aber eine Politik betreiben, die sie ehrlich erklären kann, dann müsste sie die Arbeit an einem solidarischen und deshalb zukunftstauglichen Europa jetzt beginnen. Sie müsste sich an die Spitze derer stellen, die Strategien und demokratische Institutionen für eine echte gemeinsame Wirtschaftspolitik entwickeln. Für ein Europa, in dem der Kampf um ausgeglichene Haushalte und gegen Verschwendung sehr wohl Platz hat, nicht aber die Macht des Stärksten, sich auf Kosten der Schwächeren zu bereichern.Sie hat sich anders entschieden.

Merkel betreibt einseitige Interessenpolitik – ohne Rücksicht auf Verluste und immer gerade so lange, bis Frankreich oder das Bundesverfassungsgericht sie ein bisschen bremst. Und sie erzählt uns, dieses Spiel mit dem Feuer sei im deutschen Interesse. Das ist die Lüge der Angela Merkel.

("The euro crisis tells us one thing above all, and that's precisely what the German chancellor does not tell us: the common currency has always borne the traits of an imperialist, primarily nationally-oriented policy on the part of the German government. And it is exactly this German dominance that Merkel is attempting to salvage when she says she's bailing out the euro. ... If what she wanted was to implement a policy that she can explain in all honesty, she'd have to start working right away on a Europe that can withstand the passage of time, a Europe of solidarity. She would have to represent those who are developing strategies and democratic institutions for a true common economic policy. For a Europe in which the battle for balanced budgets and against profligacy have a firmly established place. And one where the strongest cannot enrich themselves at the expense of the weakest. But she has decided on a different course. Merkel's policy is based on special interests - without regard for losses and for as long as she can get away with it, until France or the Federal Constitutional Court slow her down somewhat. And she tells us that this playing with fire is in the interest of Germany. That is Angela Merkel's lie.")

Comments

[Jake]

Das Frau ist schon immer und in jeglichster Hinsicht gefaehrlich.
http://youtu.be/n1eyR5m0jjU

;-)

[Zyme]

I marvel at the return of imperialism :-)

This is why I like the EU: the perfect vehicle for Germany to let go of the past and use Europe for both disguising and projecting global German interests.

But again I would so urgently advise closer bonds to Russia to safeguard our strategic position either way.

[David]

@Zyme,

Yes, I can see a powerful triumvirate of Vladimir Putin, Angela Merkel and Bashar al Assad.

[koogleschreiber]

Germany's previous finance minister knew too good that Greece did not qualify for the Euro. They knew, for example, that the Greek military budget is generally top secret and the numbers reported had been whitewashed. And, by the way, Greece has the greatest military budget per capita in Europe! Former German Finance Minister Hans Eichel impudently declared,he knew that his own ministry warned that the Greek numbers where wrong. But the other people around him said they where okay, so he made the decision in favour of Greece. And so did all the others and so did the whole EU. In fact, the Euro was born dead and now we are necessarily at the point where we can't help anymore than to throw good (?) money after the bad.
Right now, Chancellor Merkel is just the last link in this chain of bad decisions and lies.

The EU is short before flooding the capital markets with fresh money from the printing machines.
Maybe Merkel will accept the euro bonds, maybe not. The German left has already signaled they will accept. When they come, the German public will register well that the whole political established must be held responsible for the inflationary effects which must inevitably follow. This will put the whole German political system at risk. In the rearview mirror we still see the trauma of hyper inflation - and it might be closer than it appears.

Those who don't learn from history are forced to repeat it. In the GDR they didn't understand that and the GDR vanished. The Federal Republic of Germany also hasn't a guaranty for eternity, it might end faster than we think.

[Zyme]

Koogleschreiber - this is an important point.

Nothing guarantees this system more than its prosperity. Once the people's wealth is threatened (or invested in fellow European countries in the worst case scenario), what reason do they have to support it?

[Steve]

This I don't understand "the common currency has always borne the traits of an imperialist, primarily nationally-oriented policy on the part of the German government". Germany was reluctant to join the Euro project, and was practically blackmailed into it by France, (eg Mitterand's threats of a return to pre-1914 like encirclement!) which was keener for it, as David Marsh for one documents in his book The Euro. And in fact united Germany now only represents roughly the same economic weight realtive to France as did West Germany on its own due to the increase of French gdp while Germany stagnated for years. Germany is only doing well now due to having followed relatively sound financial policies compared to the rest, plus having restored its competitiveness via 'austerity' before. But it's just wrong to portray the Euro as German imperial project, it was in fact the opposite at first, and only appears to some to be so now due to the unforeseen recent course of events.