00:00:01
well an important uh aspect uh to
00:00:04
discuss here in this context is uh what
00:00:07
does Germany think about the whole
00:00:09
situation and Germany of course is the
00:00:11
largest economy in the Euro Zone and it
00:00:13
is the largest uh creditor Nation it's
00:00:15
not the only one but it is by far the
00:00:17
largest one and Germany is a an economy
00:00:20
right now where you have uh multiple
00:00:22
opinions as to what should be done uh
00:00:25
you have small Savers uh who of course
00:00:27
uh you know want to you know keep their
00:00:29
mind is safe and they don't want any
00:00:31
inflation and they don't want any you
00:00:33
know of uh any German money to go into
00:00:35
bailouts so they're likely to actually
00:00:37
vote for parties or for politicians in
00:00:40
the elections coming up uh that
00:00:42
essentially are anti- bailout uh but you
00:00:45
also have uh you know large companies in
00:00:47
Germany uh large companies in Germany uh
00:00:50
sell uh throughout Europe uh very
00:00:53
important market for them is the rest of
00:00:54
the Euro zone so they they want these
00:00:57
economies not only to be solid but also
00:00:59
to grow
00:01:00
uh and of course this will benefit not
00:01:02
only them but also German Workers and
00:01:04
the German economy overall and then
00:01:06
another division line in Germany is the
00:01:08
smaller firms the smaller firms which
00:01:10
tend to be familyowned they're very
00:01:12
frugal uh they're very good they are
00:01:14
very competitive on a global scale
00:01:16
they're also kind of anti-bailout uh so
00:01:19
you see Germany you know essentially
00:01:21
divided which is what you would expect
00:01:23
when an issue as contentious and as
00:01:25
complex as the uh you know the Euro
00:01:28
crisis is uh up for you know discussion
00:01:31
and for debate essentially that you get
00:01:33
you know some people in favor some
00:01:34
people against so the picture is not as
00:01:37
easy as oh southern Europe you know they
00:01:39
want to be bailed out northern Europe oh
00:01:41
you know they're reluctant to bail out
00:01:43
the southern Europeans no even within uh
00:01:46
Germany uh you know you can find
00:01:49
companies or you can find you know
00:01:51
individuals who are in favor of the
00:01:53
bailouts because they strongly believe
00:01:55
and it's absolutely true that the future
00:01:57
of the German economy uh is also tied up
00:02:00
to with the uh uh you know the future of
00:02:04
southern Europe well Germany is in
00:02:06
general in a very difficult situation I
00:02:09
don't think it is realistic for Germany
00:02:11
to decide at some point enough is enough
00:02:15
we've had uh you know we've tried for
00:02:17
for 10 years for 12 years to make this
00:02:19
work we're just going to you know leave
00:02:21
the rest of Europe to its own fate
00:02:24
because Germany is right at the heart of
00:02:26
Europe and you know 40 45% 50% of their
00:02:30
exports go to the rest of Europe and the
00:02:33
stability of the country surrounding
00:02:35
Germany to the South to the west and to
00:02:37
the east right uh is really really
00:02:41
important to them I mean Germany has
00:02:42
gone through um you know many crisis
00:02:45
over the last uh 150 years and many of
00:02:48
these crisis were actually triggered by
00:02:50
instability in the areas or in countries
00:02:53
surrounding Germany so I think uh if the
00:02:55
Germans are realistic about the
00:02:57
situation and that they tend to be they
00:02:59
will realize that they need to make this
00:03:02
thing work now that they've committed 12
00:03:04
years ago to the euro they need to make
00:03:06
it work I think a very important step in
00:03:08
that direction was taken last summer
00:03:10
when the European Central Bank decided
00:03:12
to uh buy unlimited amounts of uh
00:03:14
Spanish and Italian debt and the Germans
00:03:16
were unhappy about it but they went
00:03:18
along with it so it is of course hard
00:03:20
when you're a Frugal country when you're
00:03:22
very competitive when you have a big
00:03:23
Surplus when you're a creditor Nation uh
00:03:26
to continue bailing out and to continue
00:03:28
helping out everybody but I don't really
00:03:31
think that Germany has an option
00:03:36
[Music]
