Jens Weidmann may have to be shot, er, not literally, you undestand, my goodness me, no, they don't go in for that sort of thing any more in Germany. Who he? you ask, well he's the top banker in Germany, the equivalent of the governor of the Bank of England, and he is not a glücklich bunny, oh dear me, no! He has yet to fight a duel with sabres against 'Kaiserin' Merkel but it cannot be far off. He is absolutely and definitely opposed to any use of German money being used via the European Central Bank to buy up other country's otherwise unsaleable bonds.
This puts him in direct opposition to the 'Kaiserin' which is surprising because most of his career has been spent in loyal servitude to her every wish. But not any more. And he is not content with the role of an emminence grise quietly plotting in the background. Quite the contrary, he is increasingly vocal and public and, according to Der Spiegel, is winning huge support inside Germany:
On Sept. 13, for example, Weidmann swept into a packed hall in Cologne's elegant Hotel Barceló to deliver a speech at the invitation of the ASU, an association of family-owned businesses in Germany. Dozens of executives from companies based all over Germany sat on chairs with gilded frames while ASU President Lutz Goebel, the head of a motor company in Krefeld, set the tone for the event. Goebel complained that some of the teetering countries in the euro zone had "no business model" and that Germany's government was constantly throwing "good money after bad."
Weidmann's voice also grew louder as he approached the key passages in his 23-page speech. The balance sheet of the ECB is "burdened with significant risks" because it has purchased sovereign bonds, he said, adding that he would advocate against any expansion of this policy "under any circumstances."
In his closing, he stressed that "with or without others fighting by my side, this stance will remain." The speech was received with thunderous applause.
Can you imagine Mervyn King doing such a thing? Make no mistake, Weidman is conducting an all out political campaign against the policies of his own government. Where will it end? Watch this space!
"Can you imagine Mervyn King doing such a thing?"
No - the members of our elite classes are instinctively furtive.
Posted by: A K Haart | Tuesday, 27 September 2011 at 09:47
"furtive"! Damn, wish I'd thought of that word first, spot on.
Posted by: David Duff | Tuesday, 27 September 2011 at 11:03
Interesting that it was a meeting of "family-owned" businesses.
Perhaps, like the UK, the big corporates are all for EU stuff generally (they can lobby, get the rules made favourable to them, keep out competition, raise barriers to entry, etc etc), but the smaller guys - where jobs and growth actually come from - are bitterly opposed.
And it's only slightly unfortunate that the president of the association is called Goebel! No relation, I suppose?
Posted by: Andrew Duffin | Tuesday, 27 September 2011 at 12:18
Goebel! My God, you couldn't make it up!
Posted by: David Duff | Tuesday, 27 September 2011 at 19:38