Rebuffing calls that Germany do more to support the faltering southern economies, Dr. Dombret said:
...Exchange rate movements are usually an important channel through
which unsustainable current account positions are corrected....In a
monetary union, however, this is obviously no longer an option. Spain no
longer has a peseta to devalue; Germany no longer has a deutsche mark
to revalue. Other things must therefore give instead: prices, wages,
employment and output.
The question now is which countries have to shoulder the adjustment
burden. Naturally, this is where opinions start to differ. The German
position could be described as follows: the deficit countries must
adjust. They must address their structural problems, reduce domestic
demand, become more competitive and increase their exports.
....
Mais