Angela Merkel in Washington – A Turning Point?

From President Obama's opening greeting in German – "Herzlich Willkommen!" – to the 19 gun salute to the awarding of the Freedom Prize, the state visit of Chancellor Angela Merkel was a remarkable display of pomp and friendship.  We've been told by Der Spiegel for the past two years that Angela and Barack dislike each other, but there was nothing but smiles, good cheer and mutual admiration during the visit.  The president even joked that they both had something in common – "You and I look nothing like our predecessors." – and to cap it all off James Taylor peformed "You've Got a Friend" at the White House dinner.  So does all of this mean that the anger over the Westerwelle Doctrine has subsided?   Is this a turning point in US- Germany relations? 

The German-Marshall Fund’s Stephen Szabo suspects that the Obama administration is making such a show of Merkel’s visit because it is coming to the realization that Germany “is now clearly the most powerful and important power in Europe” due to its economic might. Even though up until now Merkel has been “a reluctant partner at best,” Szabo says, the United States recognizes the need to lean on Germany to maintain European stability while turning its attentions to problems elsewhere in the world. Obama “hopes that by treating Merkel as Europe’s leader she will start to act like it,” Szabo says. And Merkel, many observers figure, might be a nice fit for the job of uber-buddy for Obama.

And the German press, naturally, was quick to see something sinister behind the White House's lavish red carpet treatment of the chancellor: 

Die Argumente für jene fürstliche Behandlung, in der sich die Kanzlerin sonnte, sind vorwiegend politischer Natur. Obama hofft, der Kanzlerin verschiedene Zusagen zu entlocken: Er will ein größeres deutsches Engagement in Libyen. Und er hofft, dass die Bundesregierung ihren Druck auf den Iran verstärken kann, sein Nuklearprogramm endlich offenzulegen. Spielt Merkel nicht mit, könnte es sehr lange dauern, bis ihr in Washington wieder der rote Teppich ausgerollt wird.

(The chancellor could bask in the royal treatment, but there is a compelling poltical argument behind it all.  Obama hopes to get several concessions from the chancellor:  he wants a more robust German engagement in Libya.  And he hopes that Berlin will stip up the pressure on Iran so that it will reveal it nuclear program.  If Merkel doesn't play along, it could be a long time before Washington once again rolls out the red carpet.)

Presence of the German leader in Washington led some commentators to reflect on the differences between the German and the US economies:  recovery in the US has stalled, but the German economy is firing on all cylinders.

The brief story is that, despite its reputation for austerity, Germany has been far more willing than the United States to use the power of government to help its economy. Yet it has also been more ruthless about cutting wasteful parts of government.

The results are intriguing. After performing worse than the American economy for years, the German economy has grown faster since the middle of last decade. (It did better than our economy before the crisis and has endured the crisis about equally.) Just as important, most Germans have fared much better than most Americans, because the bounty of their growth has not been concentrated among a small slice of the affluent.

You mean to tell me that cutting taxes for the millionaires and billionaires is not the strategy for growth and prosperity?