Carrying on like Peasants, Part MLVXII

Don’t get all surprised now.

Germany, in French public debate, has become the scapegoat for the decline of Europe, and France in particular

In other words, success is a cause of failure, and any idiotic explanatory theory will do.

The general view in France is that this Rhe[i]nish mercantilist model, based as it is on strong exports, slows internal consumption and therefore the economic development of the Union.

Let’s see now, they’re MORE likely to be employed, MORE likely to have higher earnings that their typical French counterpart, and THAT is why they’re consuming less, and THEREFORE exporting more.

Germans are notoriously cheap. They are notorious savers, especially in a downturn, but that doesn’t, for a million years, explain how RISING exports, which by virtue of numerical comparison, will comparatively lower the percentage of goods NOT exported. The idea that they are consuming less using as evidence a rising export quotient is simply insane, and only plausible if you fume de shit, start your day with a big glass of penis envy.