It seems Gordon Brown's self-appointed role as global saviour is not acknowledged as universally as he might like...
Angela Merkel, German Chancellor:
Excessively cheap money in the US was a driver of today’s crisis. I am deeply concerned about whether we are now reinforcing this trend through measures being adopted in the US and elsewhere and whether we could find ourselves in five years facing the exact same crisis.
Steffen Kampeter, budget expert in Ms Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union:
I see the danger of creating a new bubble. Massive interest rate cuts and massive borrowing may bring about new problems.
How good is a policy package if it has to be changed every other week? How good is it for confidence? The latest British decisions on VAT and income tax, for instance, are inconsistent. Better to wait a bit longer and put forward more durable solutions.
Hat-tip to the FT's Westminster Blog, via Spectator CoffeeHouse
