I can't prove what I am going to write, but it makes sense, at
least to me. Angela Merkel does not want the ECB to print money,
be a lender of last resort, etc because most Germans RENT.  This
is huge, for the simple reason that renters are most vulnerable
to inflation.  Indeed, Germans are protected by their government
in many ways. The Germans do not allow easy money lending to
disrupt the real estate market. That does two things. First, it
keeps a cap on RE values, and allows landlords to maintain
steady rents. Second, it allows the Germans to avoid moral
hazard in real estate, keeping a lid on wages and benefits and
the dreaded inflation that terrifies the country.  Of course,
the German banks didn't have a problem lending to other nations
in an easy money binge that resulted in massive German bank
leverage. So, one must ask, if the Germans are vulnerable to
massive social disruption due to monetizing debt on a massive
scale by the central bank, would they even bail out Italy if the
Italians pass austerit