THE TELEGRAPH – BLOG: Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, has declared war – no, not on the Greeks or Poles, but on the markets.
Speculators are exaggerating the tensions in the eurozone, she has declared, and must be brought to heel. “To some degree this is a battle between the politicians and the markets,” she said in a speech in Berlin. “But I am firmly resolved – and I think all of my colleagues are too – to win this battle.”
Does not the German Chancellor think that economic fundamentals might have the teeniest, tiniest little bit to do with the sovereign debt meltdown, as in Greece has become about as credit worthy as an unemployed lorry driver?
Apparently not. Ms Merkel has placed herself firmly at the forefront of calls to set up a special EU credit rating agency, presumably with the intention of awarding a triple A rating to anyone the politicians deem appropriate.
When economics and politics collide, there is only ever one outcome. Despite what Ms Merkel says, the economics will always win through. European policymakers are determined to tame markets and bend them to their will. I wish them luck, but they won’t succeed. Read on and comment >>> Jeremy Warner | Friday, May 07, 2010
