The Threat of German Amnesia
Europe is again learning the hard way that austerity applied in the teeth of a major financial crisis leads to depression. That was a key lesson of Herbert Hoover's policies in the US in the early 1930's – and of Heinrich Brüning's policies in Weimar Germany. Unfortunately, Germany, of all countries, insists on forgetting it.
BERLIN – Europe’s situation is serious – very serious. Who would have thought that British Prime Minister David Cameron would call on eurozone governments to muster the courage to create a fiscal union (with a common budget and tax policy and jointly guaranteed public debt)? And Cameron also argues that deeper political integration is the only way to stop the breakup of the euro.