Angela Merkel is right: the euro is in danger. The threat comes not from speculators, however, but from policymakers. The German government's unilateral ban on naked short selling of eurozone sovereign bonds, either directly or using credit default swaps, is the equivalent of taking a wild swing at a straw man. It appears to be a politically timed move to win backing for the eurozone's €750bn rescue package. The danger is that it saps confidence in that grand project. The ban was introduced without consultation with other eurozone governments, increasing the risk of regulatory discord when the opposite is needed. It reinforces the impression that Germany is seriously at odds with the financial markets.
安格拉•梅克爾(Angela Merkel)說得沒錯：歐元正處於危險境地。不過，威脅並非來自投機者，而是來自政策制定者。德國政府單方面禁止「裸賣空」歐元區國債——無論是直接操作還是利用信用違約互換(CDS)，相當於揮拳狠揍一個草人。從時機上看，此舉具有政治動機，目的是讓歐元區7500億歐元的救援方案贏得支持。危險在於，這將削弱人們對那個龐大項目的信心。這一禁令是在未經與歐元區其它政府磋商的情況下出臺的，這增加了監管不協調的風險，這與目前所需要的局面恰恰相反。它加深了人們的一個印象，即德國與金融市場嚴重不合。