Thanks to reader Gord for this post which looks at the ways in which Germany has benefitted from the problems in Greece
"As Greeks suffer in multiple ways the effects of the economic crisis their country is going through, Germany has profited handsomely from the Greek crisis. This is a conclusion of research carried out by the Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH). The study shows that the Greek debt crisis resulted in a reduction in German bund rates of about 300 basis points (BP). This led to interest savings of more than EUR 100 billion (equivalent to more than 3% of GDP during the period 2010 to 2015.
According to the study, Germany would still benefit if Greece defaults on all its debt. The savings would still be substantial if Greece does pay or pays at least in part. This is the result of investors' increased demand for German bonds because of the greater safety they provide. Many investors would lend money to the German government at extremely low rates rather than risk losses on higher return enterprises"
It concludes
"There is something incongruous where one of the richest countries in the world continues to profit from the miseries of a poor country like Greece. To pretend that Greece will be revived by a new influx of predatory loans is to pretend that a terminally sick patient will be cured by a blood transfusion"
Full article here
Merkel: Trust me, I'm a doctor
