Final Word from Wednesday, January 23, 2019

One of the many jokes in Prague yesterday after the signing of a new Franco-German treaty by Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron was a wisecrack about which of the two Prague ambassadors will have to pack his bags and go home once the new superstate is created. And which Czech oligarch will then get to buy the losing ambassador's vacated Malá strana palace? One of the inevitable repartees was that it depends on whether Deutsche Bank or BNP Paribas is chosen to arrange the Merkel-Macron deal. Isn't this what banks, large companies and even countries do when they face existential problems? They issue more debt and take someone over. The convergence/merger of France and Germany could make these two EU members too big to fail until a megamerger of a federated EU can be arranged. Merkel and Macron will package everything nicely together, and then their successors will enter talks on turning the whole kit and caboodle over to China. [ Czech Republic French France Germany Lower Town Roland Galharague Christoph Israng Aachen ]