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1、October11,2011GermansLoveEurope,butNottheEuroByWOLFGANGISCHINGERBerlinCOMMENTATORSonbothsidesoftheAtlantichavespentthelastyeartryingtoexplainGermany’shalting,confoundingapproachtotheeurocrisis.Diggingdeepintothecountry’shistory,arecentarticleinTheEconomisteme
2、rgedwithatellingquestionfromthetheologianMartinLuther:Whyshouldsinnersbegivenaneasywayout?Butthereisamuchsimplerexplanation:GermansfirmlybelieveinEuropeanintegration,buttheyhaveneverwholeheartedlyembracedtheeuro.GraspingthisambiguityhelpsexplainChancellorAnge
3、laMerkel’sactions—orlackthereof—duringthecrisis.AndithelpsexplainwhyGermansfirsttoreaparttheneweurorescuefundinpublicdebate—onlytoturnaroundandadoptitbyahugemajorityintheBundestag.Mostimportant,itmakesclearthattheeurocrisisisnotjustanenormouschallenge,butalso
4、ahistoricopportunityforMrs.Merkel,andforEurope.IfshecanpersuadeherfellowGermanstobacktherescueeffortasanecessitytosavetheunion,thenitislikelynotonlytosurvive,buttoemergemuchstronger.Butifshesellsitasmerelyawaytosupporttheeuro,thenGermanscouldbalkandtheentiree
5、nterprisewouldbeatrisk.Germansneverhadaloveaffairwiththeeuro,becausetheyneverreallyneededit.Thecountryhadaverystablecurrency,whichbothguaranteedthelowestinterestratesinEuropeandsymbolizedthecountry’spostwarsuccess.Still,Germansunderstoodthatreunificationhadch
6、angedthestateofplay,thatthehegemonyoftheGermanmarkwouldbeunacceptabletoneighborsofaunitedGermany.Givinguptheircurrencywasthepricetheyknewtheywouldhavetopayforreunification,thepledgetoensurethattheireconomicstrengthwouldnotturnintopoliticalsupremacy.Germanshon
7、oredthispledgewithoutcomplaint,becausetheysawitasthemeanstoanend:thebest(andonly)waytolastingpeaceandprosperitywastocreateanintegratedEurope.Whyhesitatenow?DespiteGermany’simageofstrengthabroad,athomeitfeelsmuchlesssecure.Digestingthefinancialburdenofreunific
8、ation,andtheintroductionoftheeuroduringthelastdecade,hashardlybeeneasy.What’smore,aftertheLehmanBrotherscollapse,Germany’srecessionwasoneofthedeepestamongindustrializedcountries.Yes,thing
