Merkel Gets another Term

In case you had not noticed, Germany has spent this Sunday electing a new government and judged by the incoming bulletins the current chancellor Angela Merkel will be getting another term, with another coalition mind, and thus the dubious honor of leading Germany out of its worst recession in a long time, here is the BBC's Gavin Hewitt; 

From the moment the first exit polls appeared, the celebrations began at the Christian Democrats' Headquarters in Berlin. Every good result was met with whoops and a clinking of beer glasses. They even managed to offer sausages with "CDU" branded on them! Angela Merkel's supporters had grown nervous in recent days that they might have to continue their awkward partnership with the Social Democrats.

Soon it sunk in that Germany would have a centre-right government. It was more than many at Mrs Merkel's party headquarters had dared to hope for. One woman told us she thought it would be bad for Germany if the current coalition had continued. When Angela Merkel arrived she was met with cries of "Angie, Angie". She had made the election about herself and so this was a significant victory for her.

Although this is a shift to the right, Angela Merkel stressed that she wanted to be "the Chancellor of all Germans". Certainly her record in power suggests she will be pragmatic. In 2005 she had talked of radical economic reforms. Now she has the opportunity to reveal where her true instincts lie.

In order to add some economic perspective on this, Global Economy Matters will be featuring a look at the Germany economy from both a current as well as a theoretical perspective, so stay tuned.