Merkel Calls for Global Economic Charter
Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, speaks at the Global Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Photo by Alessandro Della Bella/EPA
Visions of better, more comprehensive or simply different global governance are a dime a dozen at Davos, and given the magnitude of the economic crisis, that is hardly a surprise. But when the vision belongs to a German head of government who stands a good chance of getting re-elected later this year, it’s worth a listen.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday that the world needs “a charter for the global economic order.” The upcoming London meeting of the Group of 20, an organization of industrialized economies and emerging markets, could set the world on the way, Ms. Merkel said. Eventually such a body could be a kind of “U.N. economic council” that mirrors what the United Nations Security Council did for the world after World War II, Ms. Merkel said.
“Incredible opportunities are opening up,” she said. “We are now seeing only the crisis.”
This sort of talk generally falls on skeptical ears, and not only in the United States. In fact, it may very well end up as fodder for conspiracy theories on the Internet, for those who fear the imposition of European social democracy — or worse — through a newly invigorated United States.
But that would be a great misunderstanding. Ms. Merkel is a child of communist East Germany, and living behind the Iron Curtain made her a fan of capitalism, not its enemy. What has to underpin this new global economic order?
According to Ms. Merkel, “the forces of the free market economy.”
– Carter Dougherty
dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/30/merkel-calls-for-global-economic-charter/