Merkel in China: "The euro has strengthened Europe"

Europe´s de facto ruler, German chancellor Angela Merkel, who is on a kowtowing visit to China, has been extolling the virtues of the common European currency:

"I want to tell you: The euro has strengthened Europe," Ms Merkel said in a speech at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, one of the country's leading academic institutions, which functions as a think-tank for the government. "This is not a crisis of the euro, it is a debt crisis and a crisis of different levels of competitiveness," she said.

At the same time the IMF has warned that the recession in Merkel´s "strengthened Europe" will slow the global economy this year: The 17 nations that share the euro will shrink 0.5 percent this year.

However, we should always remember Merkel´s rule number one: Even if Greece and a couple of other euro countries would go bankrupt, it is NEVER the fault of the eternally excellent, political euro.

Whether Frau Merkel was able to convince her Chinese hosts, remains to be seen.