Courtesy of Mish.
President Barack Obama should focus on cutting America’s own budget deficit before advising Europe on how to tackle its debt problems says German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble in the Spiegel article in Germany Rejects Obama’s Criticism in Euro Crisis
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble rebuffed recent criticism of Germany’s handling of the euro crisis from Barack Obama, telling the US president to get his own house in order before giving advice.
“Herr Obama should above all deal with the reduction of the American deficit. That is higher than that in the euro zone,” he told German public broadcaster ZDF on Sunday night.
Obama, worried about the impact of the debt crisis on the global economy and financial markets — and on his own prospects for re-election –has been urging Europe to step up its efforts to tackle the problem.
In the interview, Schäuble also reiterated his opposition to euro bonds, saying countries must remain individually liable for their public debt as long as they were taking sovereign decisions on how the money was being spent.
“If you spend the money from my account, you won’t be frugal with the money,” said the finance minister. He added that he was against devoting large sums of money — for example from the European Central Bank — to fight the crisis. The roots of the crisis needed to be fought credibly, he said, adding that that was succeeding in Ireland and Portugal, which have both received international bailouts. “It’s not succeeding so well in Greece,”he added.
“I don’t know when that will happen, and I doubt anyone does,” he told SPIEGEL. “But I assume that it’ll happen sooner than I would have thought a few months ago.”
Wolfgang Schäuble Defends Euro and Jean-Claude Juncker
In an interview with Spiegel published on Monday, Schäuble said he could imagine that Germany will soon have to hold a referendum on a new constitution enshrining greater EU sovereignty.
Please consider these snips from Der Spiegel interview ‘We Certainly Don’t Want to Divide Europe’
SPIEGEL: Minister Schäuble, the European Union is mired the worst crisis in its history with the euro threatening to break apart. What is at stake?
Schäuble: Our prosperity. The world, with its globalized economy, is changing at a rapid pace. Those who want to keep up cannot go it alone. It only works in collaboration with other European countries and with a European currency. Otherwise we would fall far behind, and that would lead to a substantial loss of prosperity and societal security.
SPIEGEL: Was it a mistake to introduce the euro?
…
