In a guest article for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, fourteen German and French economists commented on proposed measures towards a deepening of European Monetary Union – which had been decided on a few weeks earlier in Meseberg at the Franco-German summit. …
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire gave the Financial Times an interview in which he stated clearly that, given the gap in competitiveness between Germany and the other European Monetary Union (EMU) nations, it is “impossible to continue” and that for France the introduction of the euro zone budget is “non-negotiable”. …
To understand the current trade conflict between Europe and the USA it is important to reassess the political situation of German foreign trade. What’s happening now is nothing new. I vividly remember Larry Summers, then US treasury secretary, telling me at a G7 meeting some twenty years ago that since the early 1980s the American administration had actually given up hope having serious discussions with a German administration on international issues such as balancing trade surpluses or stimulating the global economy. …
Italy is still suffering politically from a completely inappropriate analysis of its economic situation by northern nations. This is because of the general economic ignorance in the North, but also due to specious prejudices against which our southern neighbours are struggling. …
