You seem to think "southern countries" collectively decided to increase costs while Germany took the high road. Southern Countries HAD their costs increased and their internal inflation out of control, so the ECB could help out the then-struggling Germany and France duo.
Germany was stagnating in 2000 and MISSED their promised objectives, while Southern Countries were growing healthily. Then they found themselves with extremely low rates to help growth in Germany and France, which was basically "free money" and an out-of-cycle policy they simply did not know how to deal with. Their internal corruption did the rest.
There is one way to enforce responsibility: stop giving away free money, either be it through low rates, or through "rescue packages" done to ensure your banks won't need to swallow a massive hole from not having their lent money back.
A bit too late for this, but hey, better late than never.
- raise the rates. NEVER drop the rates below 5% as long as there is a single overheating economy in the monetary Union.
- drop the debt. Suck it up. No more rescue plans, also buh-bye to the money irresponsibly lent away. Maybe you didn't know this but you have already dropped a lot of it. Now it's when the big monster Merkel has been avoiding will rear its ugly head: the same will have to happen with other MUCH bigger countries than Greece. This will cost Germany and all the other countries massively, you will be in RECESSION for some years.
Otherwise they will be out of the Euro and then you can bet your lucky pants they will declare bankruptcy and they won't repay the debt or any rescue we (EU members including the UK that's not even in the eurozone) have given them, as Argentina did not that long ago when they let their currency float. Simply because they are unable at this point to go into a position from which they can repay.
Germany was stagnating in 2000 and MISSED their promised objectives, while Southern Countries were growing healthily. Then they found themselves with extremely low rates to help growth in Germany and France, which was basically "free money" and an out-of-cycle policy they simply did not know how to deal with. Their internal corruption did the rest.
There is one way to enforce responsibility: stop giving away free money, either be it through low rates, or through "rescue packages" done to ensure your banks won't need to swallow a massive hole from not having their lent money back.
A bit too late for this, but hey, better late than never.
- raise the rates. NEVER drop the rates below 5% as long as there is a single overheating economy in the monetary Union.
- drop the debt. Suck it up. No more rescue plans, also buh-bye to the money irresponsibly lent away. Maybe you didn't know this but you have already dropped a lot of it. Now it's when the big monster Merkel has been avoiding will rear its ugly head: the same will have to happen with other MUCH bigger countries than Greece. This will cost Germany and all the other countries massively, you will be in RECESSION for some years.
Otherwise they will be out of the Euro and then you can bet your lucky pants they will declare bankruptcy and they won't repay the debt or any rescue we (EU members including the UK that's not even in the eurozone) have given them, as Argentina did not that long ago when they let their currency float. Simply because they are unable at this point to go into a position from which they can repay.