I have no reason to object to what you posted and support the fact that an op-ed challenging not only GS, but throwing down the gauntlet to all of WS, appears in one of the most widely circulated newspapers in the US. I would respectfully suggest that there is some context missing acknowledging that you interact with different generation of Germans than i do.
In my opinion, this op-ed could never appear in a German mainstream daily, e.g. FAZ, SZ, Welt or Handelsblatt, written by a German ED resigning from Deutsche Bank in disgust. Any tales of malfeasance by players like Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, Hypo Real Estate, i.e. the "home team", while potentially morally repugnant, will not appeal to most readers the way they do when the same behavior is observed in US banks.
On the day of the Greek default, this was the cover on Stern, the second most circulated weekly news magazine in Germany
stern.de
which roughly translates as "America, what has become of you?"
There is a strong current of anti-American sentiment in Germany in people younger than 50 years old. Many may argue that disagreements about the Iraq War, Afghanistan, Kyoto and a number of other things have created hostility. In my experience it simply brought what was already there to the surface. The reprint of the stories of malfeasance from WS are simply fuel for the fire. |
