Germany gets down to business
Chancellor Angela Merkel's second administration will have far greater room for manoeuvre now that the voters have decisively rejected her previous coalition partners, the Social Democrats. Instead, the resurgent pro-business liberal Free Democrats will return to government, with their leader Guido Westerwelle expected to be named the next foreign minister of the Bundesrepublik.
Why is this good news? It's because the Grand Coalition of the Christian Democrats and Social Democrats which was forced on the country by an indecisive election result and a strictly proportional electoral system has itself been rejected by an electorate which has now felt able to make up its mind. In the light of major international financial crises, Germany has voted for the rights of people and businesses rather than for the power of the state.
As such, we can expect to see a reforming, tax-cutting government in Germany: something rare in continental Europe, especially at a time when statism is rampant in the United States and United Kingdom.
This could be an interesting experiment.
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