The real reason for Germany's optimism
Catch certain Germans in an unguarded moment and you'll hear the truth about the German perception of the troubles in Italy and Greece: "To be blunt, we have them by the balls."
November 15, 2011: 10:37 AM ET
http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2011/11/15/the-real-reason-for-germanys-optimism/?iid=H_TS_News
What's interesting is what happened later, during a coffee break, when I got into a discussion with two senior German executives attending the meeting.
One of the German execs was a consultant, and the other headed what I'll call a quasi-official German organization.
They were slightly irritated by the pessimism I'd expressed earlier in the day.
He waved me off. No no, he said, it will be taken care of.
The Germans, he said, understood how beneficial to them membership in the euro zone has been. Without it, the gentleman said, the value of the Deutschemark would be 50% or 75% higher than it is under the euro. "German industry would be wiped off the map."
Is the government, even one under a new Prime Minister, going to push through sufficient austerity to avoid a default?
Now the consultant perked up, speaking what he too believes to be the unvarnished truth. They have to, he said, because "to be blunt about it, we have them [both the Greeks and the Italians] by the balls."
And make no mistake â that, in essence, is where the European crisis stands.
The Germans -- and the ECB along with them -- believe (perhaps hope is the better word) that two new technocratic prime ministers, former EU commissioner Mario Monti in Italy and MIT-trained economist Lucas Papademos in Greece, will cast politics aside and force angry populations in both countries to take their medicine, whether they like it or not.
Because it's for their own good, you understand. And besides, "we have them by the balls. They have to do what we say."
Clarity is always refreshing, and what my interlocutor had said is very much the German perception of current political reality in Europe. We have them by the balls.
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:eek: German triumphalism.
Catch certain Germans in an unguarded moment and you'll hear the truth about the German perception of the troubles in Italy and Greece: "To be blunt, we have them by the balls."
November 15, 2011: 10:37 AM ET
http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2011/11/15/the-real-reason-for-germanys-optimism/?iid=H_TS_News
What's interesting is what happened later, during a coffee break, when I got into a discussion with two senior German executives attending the meeting.
One of the German execs was a consultant, and the other headed what I'll call a quasi-official German organization.
They were slightly irritated by the pessimism I'd expressed earlier in the day.
He waved me off. No no, he said, it will be taken care of.
The Germans, he said, understood how beneficial to them membership in the euro zone has been. Without it, the gentleman said, the value of the Deutschemark would be 50% or 75% higher than it is under the euro. "German industry would be wiped off the map."
Is the government, even one under a new Prime Minister, going to push through sufficient austerity to avoid a default?
Now the consultant perked up, speaking what he too believes to be the unvarnished truth. They have to, he said, because "to be blunt about it, we have them [both the Greeks and the Italians] by the balls."
And make no mistake â that, in essence, is where the European crisis stands.
The Germans -- and the ECB along with them -- believe (perhaps hope is the better word) that two new technocratic prime ministers, former EU commissioner Mario Monti in Italy and MIT-trained economist Lucas Papademos in Greece, will cast politics aside and force angry populations in both countries to take their medicine, whether they like it or not.
Because it's for their own good, you understand. And besides, "we have them by the balls. They have to do what we say."
Clarity is always refreshing, and what my interlocutor had said is very much the German perception of current political reality in Europe. We have them by the balls.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
:eek: German triumphalism.