Back in July, Germany’s economic “wise men” took a look at bailout “success” and “failures” and came to a rather disconcerting conclusion. Here’s what the Council of Economic Experts said in their report:

A permanently uncooperative member state should not be able to threaten the existence of the euro. In view of this, the Council of Economic Experts recommends that the withdrawal of a member state from the currency union must be possible as an utterly last resort.

Yes, “a permanently uncooperative member”, and by “uncooperative” they of course meant states which do not subscribe to the German brand of fiscal rectitude and who may seeking to rollback previously agreed upon austerity measures. To be sure, there’s a whole to be said for honoring one’s commitments, especially when those commitments came with billions in loans attached to them, but the report served to underscore the extent to which Berlin effectively controls the eurozone by wielding the purse string. 

Anyway, one thing we know about Germany is that officials have a low tolerance for anything that even looks like irresponsible fiscal policy or other types of shenanigans that could, in the end, create crises which is why no one was surprised to see Wolfgang Schaeuble give a number speeches over the past several months in which in incorrigible finance minister derided money printing and ZIRP. 

Well don’t look now, but the same Council of Economic Experts is out with their latest annual report and they are not happy with ECB QE and contend that the further expansion of the central bank’s balance sheet could risk sparking a new financial crisis. Here’s more: