In 2005, Angela Merkel assumed office as German Chancellor. Angela Dorothea Merkel was born in July of 1954 and came from Hamburg, Germany. In the national election of 2005, Chancellor Merkel succeeded the former chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who was a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany. Chancellor Merkel is a member of the German Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which holds suppo
rt from Catholics and conservatives. The party holds traditional conservative views on issues, particularly in economic issues. Since the adoption of the single currency, the Euro, Chancellor Merkel's party has adapted to more liberal economic policies, which includes the bailout for Greece.
Even with the crumbling of countries, such as Spain, Portugal, Greece, and possibly Italy, Germany’s economy has proven to stay strong and volatile. During the economic crisis, Germany’s ec
onomy grew by 0.7% (Taipei Times). In contrast with the Eurozone (or everyone else but Germany) has grown only 0.4% (Taipei Times), which is 0.3% less than Germany’s. Before, Chancellor Merkel did not agree about bailing out Greece and was ‘very hesitant to committing any money to troubled countries that use the euro’ (Birnbaum The Washington Post). Her stance on the economic crisis stems from her party's conservative fiscal policy, but with a prospering nation and other nations falling behind, Chancellor Merkel has changed her views.
Now, with a slight economic standstill in Germany, Chancellor Merkel is still positive about helping out Greece. Since Germany has prospered while many countries have not, Chancellor Merkel decided to ‘give back to the community’ and made the claim ‘The weakness of one is the weakness of all’ (Birnbaum The Washington Post). Today, with recent statistics, the German GDP has taken a slight halt. The German GDP has only grown 0.2% (Weiss Bloomberg Business week), which seems to be a stark contrast with it’s previous 0.7% growth rate. By Germany's economy taking a slight hit, Merekel still believes the the economy will still grow (Weiss Bloomberg Business week) and offers lawmakers legislation in regards to Greece.
Even with the support with lawmakers, there has been question whether or not Chancellor Merkel's 'good will' is completely accepted by the German Parliament. Today, the German Budestag has passed the legislation which entitles a 'Euro fund' for bailouts, specifically for Greece. The legislation passed with '523 lawmakers, 85 against' and a guarantee of '211 billion euros' to aid Gre
ece (Brown and Chambers Reuters). Germany's Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble said "This is about defending the common European currency as a whole, and with it we are defending the European project" (The New York Times). However, in the Reuters article, it is transparent that Chancellor Merkel's party, the Christian Democrats, has started to show their disapproval on her stance, which could lead to internal problems. Now, discontent from parliament is now having a ripple effect on Chancellor Merkel’s constituents.
The German population disapproves about the bailout with Greece. In a recent Bloomberg interview, polls indicate that 59% of the German people do not want to bailout Greece, 75% disapprove Merkel’s stance with France, and 58% want Greece out of the Euro. In response to the recent drop in poll numbers, Chancellor Merkel has stated ‘Greece has to take responsibility and help itself’ (Gathmann and Medick Spiegel Online) but continues to show support for the bailout. Even with her popularity dropping (BBC), could it be possible that the bailout for Greece may hurt Christian Democrats from gaining seats for the next election?
Nevertheless, the question of countries defaulting and asking for bailouts are spreading. In comparison, the United States bailed out banks, housing markets, and car factories regardless if it was moral or amoral. Overall, is it our duty as a nation to bail out any country or business, or in contrast, let them fail?
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Angry CDU leaders, but Chancellor Merkel preservers:
The bailouts have happened. Germany and the rest of the European Union have soaked up most of Greece’s debt. Although at the time, the bailout of Greece had border implication, it has done well for greater Europe. There has been a change of government in Greece and Italy. Riots throughout the streets of the Athens erupted and Greece has much to do before it can earn back the trust of investors. Germany is willing to soak up more than the necessary amount of its share to bailout Greece also puts Germany into a unique position of more than just surviving past the recession and the country could have a involved role in EU decisions.
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