When the Germans are laughing at you, things are in a pretty serious mess. That’s the case with the British version of the bailout, which the German finance minister has just ridiculed:

Criticising the UK government’s decision to cut VAT from 17.5% to 15%, Mr Steinbruck questioned how effective this will be.

“Are you really going to buy a DVD player because it now costs £39.10 instead of £39.90?” he said.

“All this will do is raise Britain’s debt to a level that…

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The glee in European capitals at the woes of “Anglo-Saxon” capitalism is tangible. Sarkozy and the German finance minister pile on, with Sarkozy saying, “Self-regulation as a way of solving all problems is finished. Laissez-faire is finished. The all-powerful market that always knows best is finished.” Peer Steinbruck, meanwhile, claims that this would have all been avoided if Washington hadn’t laughed at German proposals for stricter regulation…

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