> Angst of a stagnating Germany
> - By Dominic Sachsenmaier
>
> Bonn, July 5: German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's call for early
> elections in September has set Germany up for intense soul-searching and
> debate about the country's identity and its role in a globalized world.
The CDU/CSU isn't going to turn Germany into a German-speaking province of the UK. It's just that the, how shall we say, automotive faction of Eurocapital is being upstaged by its silicon wing. Also, the German Right learned from its mistake in 2002, which was to kowtow to Mordor's war. Merkel - who incidentally is from the former East Germany, an irony Heiner Mueller would've deeply appreciated - won't make that mistake again.
> Despite each of the past four administrations' efforts, the
> number of jobless people has been growing steadily. In the winter it had
> reached five million – or 12 percent of the entire workforce –
Germany's slow growth is due to the high euro, and the idiotic Maastricht limit on deficit spending. EU deficits hit 5.5% of GDP during the previous recession, but only hit 3% during this one. It was enough to stave off recession, but not enough to ignite domestic growth.
> Franz Müntefehring, the majority leader of the governing Social Democrats
> (SPD), recently compared corporate giants to locusts stripping bare entire
> areas.
Alas, the SPD has talked Left while pursuing solidly neolib economic policies. Also, Schily's internal security policies have been deeply obnoxious. The Greens have done some good things in the fields of naturalization and renewable energy, and also created a national consumer protection bureau.
-- DRR