Can Germans Become Greeks?

by Dirk Ehnts, Econoblog101 In 2011, Thomas Friedman wrote an article titled Can Greeks become Germans? Here is the core of his argument: That’s why this story is not just about interest rates. It’s about values. Germans are now telling Greeks: “We’ll loan you more money, provided that you behave like Germans in how you save, how many hours a week you work, how long a vacation you take, and how consistently you pay your taxes.” In 2013, it seems like something is not working in the euro zone. As the European Tribune reports, Germany has reached nirvana by balancing its budget, but it seems like the reward does not materialize: Suddeutsche Zeitung has an article on the latest fiscal data from Germany, which showed a zero deficit for 2012. The paper quoted Wolfgang Schauble as saying that Germany had already fulfilled the main requirement under its s...