The Polish letters: Kick-off

A good friend of mine is an economist at the ECB... and Polish. The current tragicomical developments in Europe have motivated, recently, quite an exchange of ideas between us. While our editorial policy prevents me of using other people´s comments and publish them here without their consent, I will quote some of the statements that triggered my own responses, that I will reproduce here. So, without further ado, the first letter follows...
It all started at lunch in sunny (and humid) Cartagena. Four Europeans (non-German) and the Gorilla discussing whether or not and how Germany got unfairly benefitted by the new currency. The Gorilla, a consummate germanophile, was disputing the notion that Germany´s exported the Club Med bums to death. At some point, he comes up with the, till then unproved, assertion that Germany´s recent export success owes much more to the Chinese nouveau riches than to the lazy and spoiled Mediterranean deadbeats. Upon return to his base in B-town, he easily found evidence backing up his assertion. Moreover, he finds this in his Inbox (the actual "letter" follows, now for sure):

China takes over France as Germany’s biggest trading partner

As Angela Merkel starts her visit to China today, Les Echos explains on its front page that China will this year take over France’s long held position as Germany’s most important trading partner. Also the presence of German companies in China bears no resemblance to that of French companies and of any other European country. There are roughly 5000 German companies doing business in China compared to 900 French firms. More than two thirds of all luxury cars sold in China are German and the country’s manufacturers of chemical products and industrial machines are also leading. The paper also points out the support organisations German interest groups of small and medium sized enterprises have put into place in Beijing to help SME’s get started in China.

 I guess the gist of that conversation at lunch with P., your roommate M. and F. was whether or not the Germans have unfairly (?) benefitted from the euro contraption, by exporting too much (??) to the rest of Europe. I just brought to the fore the fact that over the last 10 years, about 50% of German exports have gone to emerging markets, especially China. And in fact, imports from Europe have grown much faster than exports to them deadbeats (sorry for the gangsta grammar). So what else the Europeans want from Germany in terms of rebalancing?

As a libertarian, I must say the German Leviathan seems to be one of the least harmful on the Western hemisphere. I understand that you, as a Polish, will be hard pressed to recognize any merit on the Germans, but I think you should try to overcome those ancient tribal rivalries. They seem to be blurring your judgment. And after all, you guys ended up snatching most of Prussia anyway :)