[Qbert]

"If you call ruling over the entire EU, with most of its countries acting as your sycophants, and making a $12 billion profit off the crisis at the same time "paying a heavy price", then let's all pay that price, yes?"

They are likely heading into a recession (largely caused by the failures of their socialist neighbors), and the possible demise of the Euro will likely slam them even harder. I'm not holding them, or their government, out as any sort of model that should be followed obviously, and I think their ways have been heavy-handed in the crisis (and I think David Cameron was right to say no to that mess)... but what else do you expect them to say when they are a leading producer, and many of their European neighbors are mooches?

[Olog-hai]

None of their neighbors are mooches. None of them wanted to be bailed out (i.e. have bailout loans foisted on them), so that's why in the countries that did have the bailout loans foisted on them, every last government fell and was replaced with a compliant government that took the loans along with their draconian terms—two countries having their new governments appointed by the European Union rather than elected. All Germany's doing is biding their time until they can squeeze the rest of the eurozone for even more power in exchange for Germany's help; they don't care whether or not they'll cause a recession in countries outside their imperial nucleus.