Daniel Oliveira explains why Germany must pay for Europe

In the current euro crisis Germany should realise that on the one hand its egoism is unfair considering its own history, and that on the other such egoism poses a threat to its own economic growth, writes Daniel Olivera in his blog Antes pelo Contrário for the weekly newspaper Expresso: "Sixty-five years ago Germany was in ruins, and because of Germany Europe, too. We admire the way the Germans recovered, yet we forget that they were only able to do it so well thanks to help from abroad. ... More than a few will have asked themselves back then: why on earth should we help them when they only have themselves to blame for their predicament? ... The answer was simple: this was the only way to guarantee peace in Europe, and it promoted economic growth in the West as a whole. ... Coming back to the euro crisis, the peripheral states are suffering even though they have not attacked anyone. They are simply more vulnerable to attacks on a currency that was modelled on the German mark. ... The answer to the question of why the Germans should pay for the plight of others can be found in their history: if they don't they won't be able to count on the growth that they have registered so far."

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