Germany Continues to Fiddle as Europe Stagnates

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Unemployment in the euro area hit 12.2 percent in September, up from 11.5 percent a year ago. The inflation rate hit 0.7 percent, down from 2.5 percent a year ago. This suggests that Europe could tolerate a wee bit more stimulus in its economic policy, especially from its biggest and most powerful country.

So what was the response of Europe’s biggest and most powerful country? Dismissing as “incomprehensible” U.S. criticism of Germany’s continuing dedication to running trade surpluses, and then taking a shot at high U.S. debt levels.

I think that perhaps “incomprehensible” does not mean what they think it means.