Analysis: German tempers fray as U.S. policy gulf widens | Reuters: "(Reuters) - Germany's undiplomatic outbursts against U.S. policy, calling it 'clueless' before a G20 summit, show growing estrangement on economics as America's focus shifts away from transatlantic ties to domestic challenges and Asia.
'The Atlantic is getting wider,' said Anton Boerner, head of Germany's Foreign Trade Association, who spoke of a 'creeping alienation' between America and Europe, which has been exacerbated by the global financial crisis.
Germany and the United States often criticize each other's approaches to aiding economic recovery, with U.S. calls for more expansive policy falling on deaf ears in fiscally disciplined Germany. But Berlin has taken the rhetoric to a new level.
Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, 68, said last week that the U.S. Federal Reserve decision to buy $600 billion of government bonds undermined U.S. credibility and was 'clueless.' There was no point, he said, in pumping money into the markets.
China and Brazil were among those echoing his comments but U.S. officials were particularly stung by Schaeuble and German Economy Minister Rainer Bruederle saying the Fed move amounted to 'indirect manipulation' of the dollar to boost exports; this at a time when Washington is criticizing China for exactly the same kind of strategy.
'It's not acceptable for the Americans to criticize China for currency manipulation then slyly help the dollar by printing at the Federal Reserve,' Schaeuble told Der Spiegel magazine.
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