German Chancellor Angela Merkel is like a phlegmatic dominatrix. She enjoys delivering pain, lots of it, but she does so in a sluggish fashion, without any flair.  She’s had a free ride for too long.  Now, her day has come.  Merkel is the last impediment to throwing austerity overboard in Europe and the United States.  Correction:  the last impediment to appearing to throw austerity overboard.

Obama gave up the rhetoric of austerity before the kickoff of his 2012 campaign.   His opening speech in Columbus, Ohio was so populist-infused; you might have thought he was campaigning against himself.

Newly elected President of France François Hollande arrived at the right time to lead the move away from austerity.  Andrew Grice of The Independent noted, “The French leader said the EU had to consider all ways to increase growth. And eurobonds are part of the discussion.”

British Prime Minister David Cameron is trying o get his approval numbers in double digits agaub.  He’s fallen back on the once powerless Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg to cooperate with Europe on a growth based program.

This came just a day after leftist leader Alexis Tsipras reached out to Europeans with this undeniable truth:

“The public debt crisis is hitting the south of Europe but it will soon hit central Europe. People have to realise that their own country could be threatened.

“We are here to explain to people in Europe that we have nothing against them. We are fighting the battle in Greece not just for the Greek people but for people in France, Germany and all European countries.”

“I am not here to blackmail, I am here to mobilise,” he said. Guardian, May 21

See:

Eurozone set to abandon Greece – and austerity, Andrew Grice, The Independent May 23

Greece debt creating healthcare crisis, warn chemists Helena Smith, Guardian, May 23

At some point, maybe these leaders will get really serious and talk about the horrendous impact of the derivatives market and how it needs to be abolished.

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Tags: austerity, Cameron, Clegg, FRance, Germany, Great Britain, growth, Hollande, Merkel