Germany’s voice getting louder

In case you missed it in the Trumpet Weekly, this article in the New York Times is worth reading, particularly in light of what we posted on Friday. It’s an opinion piece suggesting that last week’s G-20 summit represented a “game-changing moment” in the world economy. According to Steven Hill, the U.S. suffered a “loss of face” and its leadership “took a major hit.” America, he says, is “now losing the global argument over what is the best development model for the 21st century.”

Germany, on the other hand, is quite confident in its own economic model and not at all skittish about lecturing the United States for its deficit spending and manufacturing woes. Hill refers to recent comments made by German Chancellor Angela Merkel:

The United States is the one that must take the necessary steps to increase its competitiveness, she said. The U.S. should not try to put limits on countries that have figured out how to get the world to buy their goods. “In the task ahead, the benchmark has to be the countries that have been most competitive, not to reduce to the lowest common denominator,” she said. Ouch!—America being called “the lowest common denominator.”

Germany’s message for America could not have been made more forcefully last week. It no longer intends to follow America’s lead.

As we noted on Friday, who could have imagined, even five years ago, Germany standing up to the United States with such bold defiance?