The announcement by Angela Merkel last week that there would be no second haircut for Greece may have surprised some readers unfamiliar with financial jargon. But once you know that ‘haircut’ means a debt write-down, nothing could be less surprising. Not because it’s a preposterous idea – in fact it’s almost bound to happen – but because two months before a general election, Merkel couldn’t say anything else. It’s pure Realpolitik.
For a long time, speaking against European integration was taboo in Germany. In a country crippled by guilt for its past, insisting on German national interest or criticising European neighbours had too many uncomfortable echoes. The result was not so much public consensus as lack of public discussion.
With the Euro-crisis this has gradually started to change. The tabloid press, with the notorious Bild leading the vanguard, launched a ferocious and sustained tirade against lazy, corrupt, bankrupt Greeks.
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