Raw Nerve: Germany Seethes at US Economic Criticism

[unhappycamper]

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/germany-defends-trade-surplus-after-critical-us-treasury-report-a-931126.html



German policymakers are striking back at the United States, after a US Treasury report blasted the country's massive trade surplus. Sensitivities in Berlin are still high over US spying on Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Raw Nerve: Germany Seethes at US Economic Criticism
By Christopher Alessi
October 31, 2013 – 06:26 PM

A day after a US Treasury Department report bluntly denounced Germany's economic model, accusing it of hampering the euro zone recovery and hurting global growth, Germany called the conclusions "incomprehensible" and challenged the US to "analyze its own economic situation."

The Treasury's semiannual currency report criticized Germany's overreliance on exports, a high current-account surplus and weak domestic demand. These factors "have hampered rebalancing at a time when many other euro-area countries have been under severe pressure," the report concluded, citing budget tightening in the euro-zone periphery. "The net result has been a deflationary bias for the euro area, as well as for the world economy."

The German Economics Ministry responded in a statement with equally harsh words, saying that Germany's surplus is "a sign of the competitiveness of the German economy and global demand for quality products from Germany."

The report -- traditionally a forum for ridiculing alleged Chinese currency manipulation -- noted that Germany's nominal current account surplus for 2012 was greater than that of China. Germany's surplus rose to $238.5 billion in 2012, compared to China's $193.1 billion, according to the World Bank.

[Laelth]

1. k&r for exposure. n/t

-Laelth

[bemildred]

2. Does require some chutzpah to whine at the germans about their exports.

I thought that was the whole capitalist/globalist idea, running an export surplus. We sound like whiney losers.