
While Merkel may have campaigned in front of a local audience, what she said was apparently instantly turned into ECB policy, as Trichet's likely successor sang to the same tunes:

FT.com / Brussels - Row within Europe over Greece

The ECB fears a soft restructuring would be seen as a precursor to a "hard" restructuring and spook markets across the eurozone. ECB officials instead want Greece to accelerate its privatisation programme. Mr Bini Smaghi said Athens needed to "convince its citizens to pay taxes" and "retire at 65 as everyone else does in the western world".

There is, however, this, too:

Separately, Jürgen Stark, another ECB executive board member, criticised "vested interests" in the UK and US who were hostile to Greece's reform efforts - an apparent attack on investors who have bet on a Greek default. In a further sign of European policy divisions, it emerged on Wednesday that the ECB and some eurozone countries are at odds with Germany's determination to involve private creditors in any future debt restructuring, for fear of scaring investors.

What is the last bit about?

*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.

by DoDo on Thu May 19th, 2011 at 10:27:45 AM EST

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