Tuesday 2 April 2013

lend-lease oder prime-directive

Not to be confused with the Emminger Reforms, an arguably kindred precedent that essentially did away with trial-by-jury for the German justice system, the Emminger Letter (PDF from the investigative memory of the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum) covertly drafted by the then president of the German Bundesbank, Otmar Emminger, to Helmut Schmidt, Chancellor of West Germany, in 1978.

The German banks made the willful decision to breach their rebuilding, reparations agreement to support weaker economies through exchange rate settings (before the common currency), fearful that manipulation would damage the home market through inflation. Haunting and lingering, the resistance was brought to unofficial policy back then over Cyprus, as today, and has been invoked several times during the intervening decades over France and Italy. The truth will out, I suppose. Do you think there are some secret intrigues going on in the European banking community?