Denial: The most interesting unspoken point of this article is that the U.S. central bank has been the most active in the economy while the Euros fiddle. When Germany can't meet the requirements of the E.U. economic standards, abandon all hope. Not that Germany is the model of capitalist thought (try to fire someone in a German corporation [assuming he or she is not on vacation]), it's just that it was such a powerhouse when the E.U. was formulated and had the biggest headstart (okay, you could argue that little issue of absorbing East Germany had its impact). In any event, note that there's no talk of re-working their economic systems. Rather, the self-imposed requirements of E.U. membership were obviously too harsh. This is akin to blaming talk radio for your having lost a recent mid-term election.