All Germany’s biggest European trade partners are in—or close to—recession, with output in the 17-member economic and monetary union (EMU) region contracting 0.4% last year and likely to fall by a further 0.1% this year, according to latest forecasts. Yet Germany’s current account surplus, measuring trade in goods and services as well as transfers to and from other countries, ballooned to a near-record 7% of GDP last year, the eighth consecutive year that the surplus has equaled or exceeded the 5% level widely regarded as unsustainably high for any other than leading energy-exporting countries. A significant reason ... (full story)