Two-Thirds of Germans Oppose Expanding EFSF, Believe Merkel has "Lost Grip" on Euro Crisis; To Hell with Taxpayers, Merkel Worried about Her Legacy

Against the wishes of two-thirds of German citizens, Merkel is hell-bent on ramming through a massive expansion of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF).



Please consider Germans oppose bailout boost, critical of Merkel

Center-right Chancellor Merkel is trying to face down a threatened revolt in her own bloc in parliament over a September 29 vote to ratify more money and powers for the euro rescue fund.



She was also publicly criticized by her ex-mentor Kohl, Germany's longest-serving post-war chancellor and architect of German reunification, over policy on Europe, the United States and Libya, saying Berlin had "no view or idea" about where it was going.



An opinion poll by Infratest dimap for public broadcaster ARD suggested 68 percent of Germans agree with Kohl's comments published in a magazine last week, while 66 percent think the Merkel government has "lost its grip" on the euro crisis.



Two thirds said they were opposed to giving more funds for the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) and over half were against introducing common euro-zone bonds -- a proposal the German government has energetically rejected so far.



At the same time, 64 percent believed European countries should coordinate policy more closely, suggesting most Germans are reluctant to fund more bailouts but are not "eurosceptic" in the broader sense.

Coordinating policy and "eurosceptic" are not opposites. For example, the US could coordinate trade policies with Canada and that would neither imply or deny "Loonie Skepticism".



To Hell with Taxpayers, Merkel Worried about Her Legacy



The important take-away is German taxpayers are clearly fed up with bailouts, yet Merkel does not care one iota what they think. After all, she has a legacy to preserve. At this stage, enduring legacy is even more important to Merkel than reelection.



She does not want the Euro to go down on her watch. Nothing else matters to her, and that is why she repeatedly gives in to demands of ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet and wishes of French President Nicolas Sarkozy.



Just to show you how wishy-washy Merkel is regarding the EFSF, on August 17 Bloomberg reported "German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy rejected an expansion of the 440 billion-euro ($633 billion) rescue fund".



Now she is in favor of it. So is Sarkozy. What happened?



This ......



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Mike "Mish" Shedlock

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

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