Merkel su Schäuble susirūpino įvaizdžiu

Spiegel Online. Austerity About-Face: German Government to Gamble on Stimulus

But a new way of thinking has recently taken hold in the German capital. In light of record new unemployment figures among young people, even the intransigent Germans now realize that action is needed. "If we don't act now, we risk losing an entire generation in Southern Europe," say people close to Schäuble.

Berlin is making an about-face, even though it aims to stick to its current austerity policy. The German government has stressed budget consolidation and structural reform since 2010, when Greece was on the verge of bankruptcy. Berlin has been arguing that this is the only way to instill confidence among investors in the battered debt-ridden countries and help their ailing economies recover.

[...] The government's change of heart isn't just a sign of selflessness and compassion. More than ever, the chancellor and the finance minister are worried that Berlin's tightfisted, heartless, austerity-obsessed image could solidify throughout Europe and do irreparable political damage. An exporting nation that sells two-thirds of its exports to other European countries cannot be unconcerned about its image abroad, they reason, especially when its government fears that constant criticism from the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Green Party, claiming that it is acting as the gravedigger of the euro and dividing the EU, could hurt it in the upcoming election campaign.

[...] Last Tuesday, Schäuble sent a letter to Economics Minister Philipp Rösler in which he proposed that the coalition partners act together. "I believe that we should also offer bilateral German aid," he wrote, noting that he hoped that this approach would result in "significant faster-acting support with visible and psychologically effective results within a foreseeable time period."

Situaciją eurozonoje gelbėtų ekonomikos stimuliavimas fiskalinės ekspansijos priemonėmis. Politiškai tai nepriimtina, tai kad neatrodytų, jog visai nieko nedaroma, Vokietija paskolins pigiau pinigų nedideliems investiciniams projektams.

Depresuotoms pietų ekonomikosms toks stimuliavimas padės kaip viagra nabašninkui. Bet niekas negalės nuneigti, kad "Vokietija rūpinasi".