Krugman, P., (2013), “Germany’s lack of reciprocity”, The New York Times, 12 November.
Huge tensions over the ECB rate cut, with a split on the board and many German economists protesting. As usual, a lot of it is about the perception that those lazy southern Europeans are getting a free ride:
A commentary by the chief economist of the financial weekly Wirtschaftswoche called the decision a “diktat from a new Banca d’Italia, based in Frankfurt”.
Why can’t those Italians etc. pull up their socks the way we did?
What Germans — economists as well as the general public — still don’t seem to get is how much Germany’s success at emerging from its late-90s doldrums depended on a somewhat inflationary boom in southern Europe. And they therefore also don’t realize how much damage Germany is imposing by refusing to allow higher eurozone inflation.
For the full article, press here.
Relevant Posts
- Cohen-Setton, J., (2013), “Blogs review: The deflationary bias of Germany’s current account”,Bruegel, 06 November.
- Münchau, W., (2013), “Optimism about an end to the euro crisis is wrong”, The Financial Times, 27 October.
- Münchau, W., (2013), “The eurozone needs to get inflation up again”, The Financial Times, 10 November.
- Watt, A., (2013), “Bad and Good News on Euro Area Inflation”, Social Europe Journal, 16 October.