@mishaps Maybe the only good thing to come out of the financial crisis was Lanchester taking on the money beat, and that article was great, but this thing from the Lewis piece really encapsulated something that has not been said enough:

"What Germans did with money between 2003 and 2008 would never have been possible within Germany, as there was no one to take the other side of the many deals they did which made no sense. They lost massive sums, in everything they touched. Indeed, one view of the European debt crisis—the Greek street view—is that it is an elaborate attempt by the German government on behalf of its banks to get their money back without calling attention to what they are up to. The German government gives money to the European Union rescue fund so that it can give money to the Irish government so that the Irish government can give money to Irish banks so the Irish banks can repay their loans to the German banks. 'They are playing billiards,' says Enderlein. 'The easier way to do it would be to give German money to the German banks and let the Irish banks fail.' Why they don’t simply do this is a question worth trying to answer."