This quote is from today’s Spiegel Online International, which has an excellent summation of what the German newspapers are saying about the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis.   The leftist Die Tageszeitung writes:

“Where earlier countries with small currencies like the Irish pound had to pay high interest, suddenly the unified interest rate of the European Central Bank applied. This magical interest rate also remained very low, because the central bankers geared themselves not towards delicate, small Ireland, but rather towards stable, large Germany.”

“For Europe, the euro was equivalent to the US’s subprime securities. Both inventions promised a totally new financial world in which credit risks disappeared magically. Suddenly, consumption also seemed possible in financially weak social classes and countries, who, until then, had been shut out of the glittery world of capitalism. With a little bit of financial technology, the social questions appeared to be solved. Now, though, they have returned. That’s the real news behind the euro crash in Greece and Ireland. The austerity measures being taken by the governments there are affecting the weakest, regardless whether it means lowering the minimum wage or making cuts to social spending.”

“The euro temporarily transformed ‘Europe’s poorhouses’ into flourishing economies, but now the era of low interest rates is over. Forever. And what will become of Ireland and Greece now?”