Guilty as charged Reaching for the clouds Reprints Related topics Europe European politics World politics Government and politics German politicsMrs Merkel has tried to avoid a bust-up with America.
Already Britain, the leader of the Afghan peacekeeping force, is hesitating about extending its operations outside Kabul and beyond its six-month mandate.The administration also wants to avoid a bust-up with Russia over Iraq.
Even if China avoids a bust, centralised growth will peter out when the process of catch-up is complete.
Other countries notably Australia have also avoided a bust in their housing markets, and have instead seen price increases flatten out.
Despite all the talk of devising a way of sidestepping Britain, which had threatened to veto the budget, Mrs Merkel was keen not to isolate Mr Cameron, thereby avoiding a bust-up that could spin out of control.
Instead, it will be an achievement just to avoid a public bust-up with the short-fused prime minister.
America was the only country to avoid a boom and bust during that period.
"There is a lot of talk now about what can be done to avoid a boom and bust," says Wonk, who sees "a good chance that this will reset the baseline" for NIH's annual appropriation.
Laws on carbon-dioxide emissions and immigration, both priorities for Julia Gillard's government, are currently floundering there.First, though, the coalition must avoid a Lords-related bust-up that would result either in a minority Tory government or a general election.
If the money materializes, the challenge for NSF officials will be to avoid a boom-and-bust cycle like the one being endured by its much larger sister agency, the National Institutes of Health.
And can investors really be sure that policymakers won't repeat the mistakes of the 1930s, and avoid an outright deflationary bust accompanied by a trade war?
