There is a very interesting article in today’s New York Times about the differences in policy of these two formidable ladies and about their friendship too. The basic difference is quite simple really. Lagarde understands how the economy works whereas Merkel does not. Lagarde knows it is important to stimulate growth otherwise you will never manage to grow out of a crisis. Merkel thinks she is a strict school marm who must severely punish her naughty pupils into submission and above all do so to set an example to others.
Merkel refused to be interviewed for the article, Lagarde did not. Lagarde is quoted as saying of Merkel that “You have to continuously explain, rationalize, dissect the whys, the pros and the cons to plead your case.” As a gracious French lady with diplomacy running in her blood, she adds, “It’s the lawyer and the physicist. [Referring to what these two ladies have studied.] I will continue to grit my teeth and smile and keep up the work.”
The lawyer and the physicist? Or is all this just a nice way of saying, “She’s so dumb you have to keep hammering away at her before she even begins getting the point, if ever she does!” Of course Christine Lagarde has never said anything like that (at least not on record) but it does look like that when you read between the lines!