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.
我贊同德國人。我不是贊同他們所抱持的關於危機起源和對策的主流觀點。我贊同他們的地方是，德國精英明白成立歐元意味著什麼。他們當時就意識到，在沒有建立政治聯盟的情況下，貨幣聯盟是成不了事的。但法國精英想擺脫對德國央行所制定貨幣政策的依賴，這種依賴讓他們感到屈辱。20年過去了，德國的夥伴國，包括法國，如今都學到了一條慘痛的教訓。這些國家非但未能脫離德國的控制，如今更是牢牢處於這種控制之下。在重大危機中，債權國說了算。