Germans Aren't Buying This Stimulus Nonsense

The President's car-salesman abilities might be put to the test in trying to convince the G20 that they have to pump a bunch of stimulus Euros into their economies. Germany's chancellor is saying "nein" to any prospect of government intervention for Europe's largest economy. From CSM:

But Merkel, diplomats say, has combined a profound German instinct against debt – and its accompanying inflation – with a widely held sentiment here that the US and Wall Street are to blame for creating the global crisis. Ahead of German elections in September, the chancellor is also arguing that Europe's social safety net already constitutes enough of a stimulus and a higher percentage of debt than what's been offered by the US and Britain.

"We were living beyond our means," Ms. Merkel said at a meeting March 28. "After the Asian crisis and after 9/11, governments encouraged risk taking in order to boost growth. We cannot repeat this mistake."

Seeing how hyperinflation and overspending brought down the Weimar Republic and led to the rise of the Third Reich, which didn't work out so well, the German Chancellor seems knowledgeable of history repeating itself. But CSM notes that the Germans might be trying to sandbag their stimulus in the hopes that other countries do it and they can live off the exports. Since American TARP funds going to AIG payed off billions to German banks, I'd say the Germans have a pretty crafty strategy going.