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| Without comment |
A hundred-strong police unit kept some demonstrators disguised as clowns encircled. As they were polluting the air with some terrible sounds, one officer confiscated a small drum, but being a perfect German official, he handed out a receipt to the drummer.
When a bystander criticized the expense of such summits, I answered, "One day in Afghanistan costs more than ten Gipfels."
Let Angela and Nicolas be guided by the Archbishop in person, visit the Münster church, sign Freiburg's Golden book - with our Lord Mayor watching from behind -, and let them eat a free lunch (?) specially composed by the one-star cook in town; all this doesn't disturb me if it helps French-German friendship.
However, it annoys me when those two leaders pretend to protect the euro.
Addressing the demand of Luxemburg, Italy, Spain, and Greece for issuing euro bonds, Merkel said, "We cannot allow mutualizing the (financial) risks." Nicolas paid her lip service by adding, "I don't see how far Germany would be selfish. Germany is the biggest (financial) contributor to the European Union."
Greece and Ireland, for years indeed, lived on credit striving beyond their financial possibilities. They now must pay more for bonds on the international market than Germany to refinance their debts. But since we have a common currency, the old German proverb holds Mitgefangen, mitgehangen (Captured together, hung together).
In fact, Euro bonds will be only a small remedy for curing the imbalance between the rich and the poor European countries. These bonds present a lesser evil for Germany than a Länderfinanzausgleich (balancing budgets between different countries). The latter is practiced in the Federal Republic between various States. From time to time, this compensation creates fury in those Länder that always have to pay to the States that, according to the givers, don't do their financial homework correctly. I agree that such a European system will require a more united community than countries bound together by a common currency.
In stirring up public opinion in Germany against the issue of euro bonds, the opponents deprive the man in the street of higher interest rates for his money. With those, he could compensate for inflation. In the meantime, people without confidence in either the euro or the dollar buy gold, although it has become so expensive that some have started to change their money into Swiss francs.
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| Spraying Sarkozy. A French guy splashes his President with a water gun. The clustered security force reacted much too late but arrested the man. |
Greece and Ireland, for years indeed, lived on credit striving beyond their financial possibilities. They now must pay more for bonds on the international market than Germany to refinance their debts. But since we have a common currency, the old German proverb holds Mitgefangen, mitgehangen (Captured together, hung together).
In fact, Euro bonds will be only a small remedy for curing the imbalance between the rich and the poor European countries. These bonds present a lesser evil for Germany than a Länderfinanzausgleich (balancing budgets between different countries). The latter is practiced in the Federal Republic between various States. From time to time, this compensation creates fury in those Länder that always have to pay to the States that, according to the givers, don't do their financial homework correctly. I agree that such a European system will require a more united community than countries bound together by a common currency.
In stirring up public opinion in Germany against the issue of euro bonds, the opponents deprive the man in the street of higher interest rates for his money. With those, he could compensate for inflation. In the meantime, people without confidence in either the euro or the dollar buy gold, although it has become so expensive that some have started to change their money into Swiss francs.
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