Europe is Upset With Germany; the Detroit Lions With Tennessee

Europe is fighting with Germany*.

Put bluntly, Germany is pursuing a beggar-thy-neighbour policy. It is not fulfilling its responsibilities as the world’s top exporter and pivotal power of Europe’s monetary union. It is leaching off global demand, even as it patronizes Anglo-Saxons, Latins, and Slavs. No doubt binge debtors in the Anglosphere are much to blame for this crisis. But Germany rode the boom too. It made those Porsches and BMWs driven by the new rich. Its banks are among the most leveraged in the world ...

Within the EMU, Germany has gained a competitive edge against France, Italy, and Spain for year after year by screwing down wages. In pre-euro days the North-South rift did not matter. The D-Mark revalued. Balance was restored. In monetary union it is toxic.

So what you're saying is that by all of you adopting the Euro, you lost the ability to compete with the Germans by turning your currencies into waste paper ...

Germany now has a current account surplus of 7pc of GDP. It is hollowing the industrial core of Latin Europe.

... and now they're kicking butt. Darn those Germans, working hard and saving their money! It's so unfair! Kind of like the Lions playing the Titans on Thanksgiving.

Somehow, despite government-mandated benefits, huge social programs, short work weeks and an anti-capitalism attitude, the rest of Europe was not able to compete with the Germans.
* - Historically, unless they bring in the Americans, that typically doesn't end well for the rest of Europe.