Make a car? Sure. Win a Word Cup? Yup. Write a symphony? Without doubt. There are lots of things that you rather have a German doing than anyone else in the world. But there are also a few things you’d rather they didn’t. Right now, rescuing a bank is right at the top of the list.
All this week, the financial markets have been gripped by the slow-motion car-crash of Deutsche Bank. An institution that was once the mightiest in Europe, and a by-word for financial stability, is now teetering on the edge of collapse. Its share price has halved this year, and today is hitting a fresh 30-year low. The cost of insuring against a default has soared, and now the hedge funds are refusing to deal with it. It is not quite in bank run territory yet – but it is getting perilously close.
And yet, what is the German government doing about? Taking a bad situation and making it worse.
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