The lead story in Friday's New York Times , "German Tone Grows Sharper in Greek Crisis ," takes the left-wing, Krugman-esque position that "conservative" Germany has been"selfish" and unfair to debt-laden Greece in demanding strict conditions on the bankrupt socialist country in return for an international bailout. Melissa Eddy wrote:
Despite bitter opposition in many quarters to the austerity-first policies Germany has imposed on Europe’s poorer nations , Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government has hung on to its role as champion of integration on the Continent through deft use of diplomacy and the country’s economic clout.
But in negotiating a new deal this week to bail out Greece, Germany displayed what many Europeans saw as a harder, more selfish edge, demanding painful measures from Athens and resisting any firm commitment to granting Greece relief from its crippling debt. And that perception was fueled on Thursday when the German finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, suggested that Greece would get its best shot at a substantial cut in its debt only if it was willing to give up membership in the European common currency.
Eddy found no room for the suggestion that Greece, whose new left-wing Syriza government and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras have rolled back pension and labor law reforms and rehired government employees, could share any blame in the ongoing showdown. A suggestion by Germany's finance minister that Greece may wish to consider leaving the eurozone was met with horror:
But Mr. Schäuble’s reminder that another option exists -- the second time he had raised the idea this week -- came as close partners like France were expressing greater willingness to help Greece and some Germans are uneasy that their finance minister’s handling of the situation has hurt their reputation in Europe and around the world .
Critics of the German-led austerity policies have called for boycotts of German products and have suggested that Ms. Merkel and Mr. Schäuble had unjustifiably humiliated Greece and its prime minister, Alexis Tsipras . Italy’s prime minister, Matteo Renzi, said of the German stance over the weekend, “Enough is enough.”
Eddy reminded readers, sotto voce , that this is Greece's third bailout in five years:
But within Germany, there is still strong backing for being tough on Greece, or even seeing it leave the euro rather than undermine the common currency’s chances of thriving in the future. Mr. Schäuble made his remarks in a radio interview hours after the Greek Parliament voted reluctantly to approve the first set of austerity measures demanded by its European creditors in return for a chance to negotiate the new bailout package, its third in five years. And his remarks came as some Greek officials asserted that he has been in favor of Greece leaving the euro all along.
“It is beginning to look like a very dirty game that he is playing,” Johannes Kahrs, a Social Democratic lawmaker, said of Mr. Schäuble.
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His position appeared to be based on European rules that are not interpreted as strictly by other nations, or by the International Monetary Fund, which called this week for deeper debt relief for Greece than Europe has been willing to consider. European rules for membership in the euro, such as those on budget deficits, are routinely skirted or broken.
Mr. Schäuble’s hard-line views on austerity and debt are not limited to him, or even to Germany. Much of Eastern Europe and a number of conservative northern countries share his view that Greece has been profligate and should get further aid only under the strictest conditions.
But more than anyone, Mr. Schäuble has come to embody the consensus that has helped shape European economic policy for years: that the path to sustained economic recovery for financially troubled countries is to slash spending, raise taxes when necessary and win back the trust of bond markets and other investors by displaying commitment to fiscal prudence -- even if that process imposes deep economic pain as it plays out. Supporters point to Ireland, Portugal and Spain as nations that have bounced back to varying degrees after austerity programs; critics point to Greece, which has remained economically troubled.
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At a vote to extend the previous bailout package in February, a record number of dissenters from the chancellor’s conservative camp showed growing impatience with the anti-austerity government in Athens, with 29 voting against it. An additional 109 among about 310 conservative lawmakers indicated reservations, although they went along with the vote.
Eddy also criticized Germany's "obsession with rules" in a July 12 report .
Times reporters may change, but their left-wing economic ideology doesn't. The same leftist slant was issued from then Berlin-bureau chief Nicholas Kulish during the last Greece economic crisis of 2011, when Germany’s leadership fixed work-force rules and instituted pension reforms and insisted that any bailout help for Greece was contingent on that country enacting similar requirements -- or as Kulish called it, imposing "austerity and suffering."
Despite bitter opposition in many quarters to the austerity-first policies Germany has imposed on Europe’s poorer nations, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government has hung on to its role as champion of integration on the Continent through deft use of diplomacy and the country’s economic clout.
