For Wolfgang Münchau Merkel's policy leads to Dante's Inferno

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's crisis policies will lead straight to the biggest bankruptcy the world has ever seen, columnist Wolfgang Münchau fears in the news portal Spiegel Online: "A sudden end to the euro would be ruinous, particularly for Germany. First off, the European single market would not survive a return to fluctuating exchange rates. The German export industry could not recover from such a change. Add to that the threat of financial collapse. ... Angela Merkel's policy of procrastination is even more ruinous. With every month the burden on Germany's system increases. … If Spain and Italy now also seek the aid of the bailout fund, then Germany and France together would stand surety for more than four billion euros of debt. That's more than the annual income of both countries put together. We are heading straight for the biggest bankruptcy in history. I know only two solutions by which this scenario can be avoided: either the European Central Bank takes over the debts, or they are partially mutualised through euro bonds and a banking union. Merkel's policy leads us into Dante's Inferno. 'Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.'"

» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » Fiscal Policy, » Germany, » Europe
All available articles from » Wolfgang Münchau
Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

» To the complete press review of Friday, June 22, 2012