Thomas Piketty has no qualms with calling out the hypocrisy of Germany trying to grill Greece for its current economic problems and inability to repay its debt. In a recent interview with Germany’s Zeit magazine, Piketty made it clear why:
When I hear the Germans say that they maintain a very moral stance about debt and strongly believe that must be repaid, then I think: what a huge joke! Germany is the country that has never preaid its debt is has no standing to lecture other nations.
… Germany is really the single best example of a country that, throughout its history, has never repaid its external debt. Neither after the First nor the Second World War. However, it has made other nations pay up, such as after the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, when it demanded massive reparations from France and indeed received them. The French state suffered for decades under this debt. The history of public debt is full or irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.
Perfectly stated. Germany has no moral authority to express condemnation of Greece. With its failure to rebate its debt following World War 2, Germany is the last country that can pretend to lecture anyone about the ability to repay debt.
