Cautiously German Keynesianism

The German economy – producer and supplier of goods to the world – is suffering a slowdown every bit as sharp as the UK, with GDP set to contract by 3% this year. The German government is now responding, as the UK prime minister, Gordon Brown, would doubtless wish. But probably much more cautiously than he would like. Germany’s view remains that when a recessionary flu pandemic comes round, fiscal remedies are costly and there may be limits to what they can achieve. As Anglo-Saxon governments op...