It seems a firestorm has broken out in Germany, though you wouldn't know it from reading the major papers.Neither Bild, nor Die Zeit, nor the FAZ mentioned it. Among the largest dailies, only Die Welt ran a short article that a few local papers picked up as well. And not a word from any government official.
But the people are mad as hell.
Romano Prodi, Ex-Prime Minister of Italy (twice) and Ex-President of the European Commission—no featherweight in European politics—is the cause. In an editorial that appeared last Saturday in the Italian daily, Il Messaggero, he said, "We have to react to the German egoism."
This "German egoism" showed when Deutsche Bank dumped its stash of €8 billion (over $11 billion) in Italian government bonds. It spread an "impressive signal of no confidence" among investors, he lamented, and it goosed yields (by around 100 basis points). As a result, borrowing costs rose significantly for the Italian government, eating up any savings from the recently passed austerity package. He then exhorted his government to complain to Berlin about Deutsche Bank's recklessness.
While German politicians are mouse-quiet on the subject….
Read more at http://www.businessinsider.com/a-war-of-words-that-erupted-after-deutsche-bank-dropped-11-billion-in-italian-government-bonds-2011-8
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