Allianz chief: don't go back to Deutschmark
The head of German insurance giant Allianz says a return to the Deutschmark would lead the country into a “deep depression.”
“A return to the Deutschmark would be irresponsible,” Allianz CEO Michael Diekmann told the newspaper Welt am Sonntag. “Therefore we should stop toying with the idea.”
Diekmann said his company has made economic calculations for what would happen if Germany were to give up the euro, and that the result would be a deep depression in which a quarter of the gross domestic product (GDP) would be lost within four to five years.
As a way out of the euro crisis, the head of the Munich-based insurer called for a stronger political union “that will only work with more shared responsibility and financing.”
He said limits need to be established on how one country helps another in the eurozone. “Whoever helps another country must also have the possibility of control,” he told the paper.
Diekmann also called for a political process in which there was more public participation. “The question is, what model can one use to convince the people of Europe,” he said.
DPA/DAPD/The Local/mbw
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“A return to the Deutschmark would be irresponsible,” Allianz CEO Michael Diekmann told the newspaper Welt am Sonntag. “Therefore we should stop toying with the idea.”
Diekmann said his company has made economic calculations for what would happen if Germany were to give up the euro, and that the result would be a deep depression in which a quarter of the gross domestic product (GDP) would be lost within four to five years.
As a way out of the euro crisis, the head of the Munich-based insurer called for a stronger political union “that will only work with more shared responsibility and financing.”
He said limits need to be established on how one country helps another in the eurozone. “Whoever helps another country must also have the possibility of control,” he told the paper.
Diekmann also called for a political process in which there was more public participation. “The question is, what model can one use to convince the people of Europe,” he said.
DPA/DAPD/The Local/mbw
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