I sympathise with the Germans. This is not because I agree with their prevailing view of how the crisis occurred or what to do about it. I sympathise because the German elite were the ones who understood what creating the euro implied. They realised that a currency union could not work without a political union. But the French elite wanted, instead, to end their humiliating dependence on the monetary policy set by Germany’s Bundesbank. Now, two decades later, Germany’s partners, including France, have learnt a painful lesson. Far from being liberated from German control, they are now far more firmly under it. In a big crisis, creditors rule.
我赞同德国人。我不是赞同他们所抱持的关于危机起源和对策的主流观点。我赞同他们的地方是，德国精英明白创建欧元意味着什么。他们当时就意识到，在没有建立政治联盟的情况下，货币联盟是成不了事的。但法国精英想摆脱对德国央行所制定货币政策的依赖，这种依赖让他们感到屈辱。20年过去了，德国的伙伴国，包括法国，如今都学到了一条惨痛的教训。这些国家非但未能脱离德国的控制，如今更是牢牢处于这种控制之下。在重大危机中，债权国说了算。