Let me make clear what I am saying and what I am not saying on the role of Germany in the eurozone and the eurozone in the world.

I am not saying Germany is at fault for making first-rate manufactured products. It is an admirable achievement. I am not saying Germany should make its workers uncompetitive or accept much higher inflation, either.

I am saying that Germany’s surpluses were made possible by other countries’ deficits, and so German stability by other countries' instability. I am saying that part of Germany’s net exports were illusory, paid for by excessive borrowing, often financed by Germans. I am saying that if peripheral Europe is to improve its external accounts, either Germany must offset some part of this, or the current account of the eurozone itself must shift towards surplus, with adverse impacts on the fragile world economy.

In short, economic policy is about more than competitiveness. When the world is trying to struggle out of a deep recession, demand matters, too. As the world’s fourth-largest economy and the core of the eurozone, Germany has a role to play in rebalancing global demand. I appreciate that this is a difficult challenge. It must be met, all the same.