Let me first say that I am absolutely thrilled to once have been somewhere before Daron, as I was the first economist to be interviewed in this new column in FAZIT. Oh well, it’s probably going to be the last time in my life.
I thought it was a great and thoughtful interview with themes that echo a few things I have been saying on this blog. What Daron did not say, probably out of politeness towards the home country of the newspaper he was interviewed by, is that in some sense Germany’s government now also has become corrupt, as it is in the bags of the big banks, Deutsche Bank first and foremost (which I have been saying here). He intimates this here:
Wiederholen wir diese Fehler im Falle Spaniens?
Ja, absolut. Es wäre so viel hilfreicher, wenn man so schnell wie möglich Umschuldungen in Spanien und Italien durchführen könnte.
Aber weil die Banken das nicht wollen, wird dies nicht geschehen.
Das ist genau das Problem. Im Falle Griechenlands war die Notwendigkeit für jeden klar. Aber während die griechischen Anleihen mit nur noch 30 Prozent oder weniger ihres Nennwertes notierten, hat man ein Jahr lang über die Frage verhandelt, wer die Kosten der Umschuldung tragen sollte. Man hat über Pennys geredet, während sich gleichzeitig die wirtschaftliche Lage Europas verschlechterte.
Another thing that he did not push is: from everything he said, there is another conclusion that could be drawn. Give up. Accept the (cultural and) institutional differences between the North and the South and focus on a more narrowly defined Europe. He did not want to go there, and instinctively I would not (yet), either. But it becomes increasingly a thought that is difficult not to think.