Rescuing Europe 

"To all those looking to Germany again in these days and expecting a solution in one go, to all those trying to convince Germany about eurobonds, stability funds, European deposit guarantee schemes, more billions and many other things I say: yes, Germany is strong, Germany is the economic engine and a stability anchor in Europe."

"But even Germany's powers are not unlimited. That is why our special responsibility as Europe's largest economy is to use these powers in a credible way... not to overestimate them, but to move step by step on our path to a political union."  German Chancellor Angela Merkel

Heading off to Mexico, not for sun and relaxation but for the G20 summit meeting, to talk about what else? rescuing EU nations from penury and burdensome debts that have placed them in the 7% borrowing category.  Canada's economy is 'steady as she goes'.  We're managing to keep our pointy little economic heads above water and squeezing through.  But unemployment is high, and manufacturing jobs keep disappearing, and Canadian households are burdened with entirely too much debt.

Not an inspiring landscape for the near future.  In view of which why would we not be interested in putting a little away for a rainy day?  If not individual Canadians because they cannot, given that unrosy picture, then the federal government.  Well, it is interested in doing just that.  It's just that there are impecunious neighbours plucking at the elbows of our national self-interests.

Yes, it is in our self-interest to have neighbours who are comfortably well-off, because we rely on them to a good degree to express interest in our products and if they're ailing they're not interested.  But this is the European Union we're speaking of, a collective of reasonably wealthy, well-endowed nations with considerable trading heft, innovative populations and an exceedingly good financial track record.

What put them off track is what put the United States, Canada's largest trading partner off track.  A social welfare track that was too unaffordable, and greed.  Greed on the part of individuals who insist they are entitled to have it all even if they haven't acquired the wherewithal to make that a reality, and greed on the part of the corporate interests who saw a way to increase their bottom line on a shifting quicksand of paperwork with no collateral substance.

The boring average Canadian has aspirations to ownership of all of life's many perquisites just as much as any other citizen of any other advanced and advantaged country.  We may be a wee tad more careful, but not by much.  That caution, however is reflected in the attitude of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Cabinet. Who have agreed to a mutual position of recommending to the EU that they bootstrap themselves into solvency.

Germany's plight as the one reliable source of financial support mostly because it has a population given to realistically adjusting their consumerism to their pocketbooks has become a bedevilling situation for them; Germans live frugally and as a result they have money in the bank so to speak, whereas their European counterparts in Greece, Spain and Italy (Ireland and Portugal) believe in living to the max with a minimum of financial security.

Sad, but it is a European problem, one that they must themselves solve, even while Greece in particular balks at anything less than total forgiveness of loans they claim they didn't want to begin with; seems to be all right with them that debt is sinking them into the Aegean.