As Washington, Beijing, Tokyo and the bulk of Europe began taking steps to prevent recession via government stimulus packages Germany; Europe's largest economy seems unwilling or reluctant to follow suit. Though Germany has lowered its interest rates to encourage spending, but no stimulus plan was announce. Jim O'Neill, chief economist at Goldman Sachs noted that since the fall of Berlin wall domestic spending of export-dependent Germany has remain pretty much the same. O'Neill claims that Germany should raise its wages and cut down on sales tax to support higher levels consumption to help easy this economic down turn.
Marco Annunziata, chief economist at UniCredit bank has said: "Germany's reluctance to pull its weight in fighting the global recession betrays lack of vision, lack of leadership, and a temptation to free-ride that, if widely mimicked, would truly condemn the world economy to a new great depression"
Germany will get a chance to defend its position next week when European Union finance ministers meet on Monday and Tuesday to discuss the EU wide fiscal stimulus package.
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