It will be interesting to see whether the experts in our afternoon session conclude that there is a need for active policy measures by the German authorities. And I am curious to learn what measures would be seen as appropriate, if any. After all, the German surplus is the result of millions of decisions made by enterprises and consumers in Germany and abroad.
I do not know of any misaligned incentives such as protectionist measures to impede imports or promote exports. And there is obviously no manipulation of the exchange rate to create current account surpluses in Germany; the euro is a free-floating currency. Of course, a current account surplus reflects a surplus of savings over investment.