Germany Chancellor Sees a Rocky Future
Unlike U.S. politicians, Angela Merkel put the truth out to her people. As with most economists, the Germans see difficulties ahead. Long term Germany’s future looks good but they, according to Merkel, must bring spending under control and weather the storm.
The U.S.-German relations have been strained since the jr. admin. from IL took office. One primary area of concern is debt. Germany has taken the classic view of decreasing spending, while the U.S. veered toward a Keynesian utopia.
12/31/2009
New Year’s Address
Merkel Warns Germans of Tough Times in 2010
In her annual New Year’s address, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has dampened expectations for a quick end to the global economic crisis. In an effort to prepare Germans for what she expects to be a difficult 2010 she said that, for some, things “will get worse before they can start to get better.”
In her year-end address to the nation on Wednesday night, German Chancellor Angela Merkel trod a fine and typically rational line between optimism and pessisim for the coming year, warning Germans that economic issues had not been resolved but also that there was plenty of hope for the future.
Merkel warned Germany’s citizens to prepare for difficult times ahead. “I tell you very openly: We cannot expect that the economic crisis will be over quickly,” the chancellor said. “Some things will get more difficult in the new year before they can get better.” However she added that there is well-founded hope “that Germany will master this crisis and that our country will be stronger going out of it than it was coming in, And that a crisis like this will never be repeated.”
She said that 2010 would be a decisive year in bringing the global economy under control. “The past year was marked by the greatest global economic crisis of our time,” Merkel said. “2010 will also determine how we get out of the crisis.”
