As I noted yesterday, the plan is almost impossible to analyze given its lack of specifics and, shall we say, flexible use of budget baselines (it uses at least three).
Second, fiscal policy in the euro area is constrained by the European Union's stability and growth pact, which limits budget deficits, while wages and prices are less flexible than in America.
Mr Waigel's ineptness began with his insistence on the strictest application of the Maastricht treaty's budget criteria for joining the euro despite the treaty's flexible wording.