The German economy is teetering on the brink of recession. Business confidence has gone down. There’s been an unexpected fall in EU factory orders as the economy loses momentum. There was a slowdown in new orders. Exports have slowed in response to a global slowdown.
The decline is the biggest since just after the collapse of Lehmann Brothes in September of 2008. The economy in Germany is not moving at all. Second quarter growth was only .1% whereas the first quarter growth was 1.3%.
This is why there can be no resolution to the Greek debt crisis right now, nor a resolution to the Spanish, Portuguese, or Italian bond crises either. If Germany’s going to have a crisis all the member countries of the Euro Zone will have to weather it with her. It’s a big enough economy to pull everything else down with it.