A Federal Reserve analysis of the most recent Survey of Consumer Finances suggests that the primary reason individuals do not have a transaction account is a simple dislike of dealing with financial institutions.10 If that dislike emanates from the reputation of the particular bank, or the reputation of the banking industry as a whole, policymakers and financial institutions will not be able to enhance financial inclusion without addressing the reputational context.
And I think mutualising debt by only hoping the rules are adhered to is very dangerous. All this requires constitutional change. But Germany cannot be completely isolated from the rest of the Eurozone. We carry the largest burden of the rescue packages, which all benefit from Germany’s AAA rating. So Germany is the stability anchor and without it, it wouldn’t work.