Internal consumption drives the German economy rather than export based alone. The financial crisis first affects the real economy, jobs then moves on to public finances.

The importance of EU is invisible when things go well but becomes visible when things start going wrong. A danger is building with the financial crisis. Germany used to consider things from 16 state perspective rather than worldwide view like the UK.

State debt bubble has come about with many debts building up in the Eurozone as most Western countries have public deficits that have continued to grow. States are paying off debts that were accrued over the last 40 years.

The reason for the crisis will provide the solution to resolve this. It is not a crisis of the Euro but rather a crisis of certain member states. The exchange rate between the dollar shows that the Euro is still a strong currency. Financial and social reform in Germany has contributed to the strength of the German economy despite the Eurozone.

The Eurozone needs joint responsibility to deal with the debt crisis. Germany would be in a worse position outside of the Eurozone. It is a debt crisis and stability has to be maintained throughout the world. One option would be to limit the possibility of new debt by cutting social and other benefits like the UK’s position.

This crisis cannot be solved by one country on its own as the countries that are in trouble face a domino effect if allowing one country to default on its debt. We are not able to see and predict the side effects of Greece defaulting on its debt. A toolbox is needed to better understand the impact on the market.

Germany is prepared to take on the challenge to preserve the Eurozone. European idealism and romanticism has driven some of the policies in the past, this approach has been sidelined for a more pragmatic approach to resolve the undesired effects of a crisis.

A German Europe is a contradiction in its term. The German electorate doesn’t want to buy into a German Europe. Performance driven initiatives are what count, as people want the crisis resolved and look to Germany to do that.

Britain looks after its own interests, is Germany following the same path?

Germany’s fragile position to solve the crisis – the ability to solve the crisis is not so sure with the GDP figures in August. The German paradigm of prosperity is looking like an elusion. The Eurozone is the biggest market for Germany.

Germany has been sleeping through the boom years when its exports to Ireland were 55% whilst to China only 5%. Life beyond the Euro crisis forces countries to look at their own national interests. The changing centres of gravity with power moving east. The embrace between Germany and Poland provides the link with globalisation exporting goods to China.

Europe is like an old satellite that was launched many years ago, circling around but the purpose has been lost, as no one knows what the purpose is anymore. A man who can’t describe his identity, as what used to be important no longer is relevant.