Douglas Carswell's Blog

I am starting to admire Angela Merkel

I’m starting to admire Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel. 

On the international stage, she is often surrounded by lots of cocky men quick to tell her how Germany needs to bailout the Eurozone. She remains resolute, thus far refusing to be bullied into making the German taxpayer take on the debts of her feckless neighbours.

She keeps being given lectures on the need for a new “growth strategy” – usually by leaders of countries with little or no growth. She wisely ignores this code for spending money the German government does not have on some sort of wild, Keynesian stimulus. Meanwhile the German economy is growing. 

Germany’s economy – Rhineland capitalism - was once a by-word for inflexibility. On Merkel’s watch, Germany has begun a number of important supply-side reforms, notably to the labour market. While unemployment rises elsewhere, in Germany market liberalisation has created a “mini jobs” boom – and unemployment keeps falling.

Imagine if she was to offer her people a referendum on the EU? Now that would be leadership .... 

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