Germany: the paymaster’s choice

By Quentin Peel in Berlin

May 30 2012

Ever since the Greek financial crisis broke out in late 2009, a vociferous minority in the German political and economic establishment has argued that the only solution was for Greece to leave the euro – regardless of the consequences.

It was a popular argument in the conservative German media – on the pages of the mass circulation Bild newspaper, in particular – and on the back benches of the German Bundestag. But it never gained the upper hand in the corridors of power in Berlin: in the office of the chancellor, Angela Merkel, and in the finance ministry.

Both Ms Merkel and her finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, have stuck to the position that the consequences of a Greek ...

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