Thomas Mayer, an economist at Deutsche Bank, detects feelings of dismay in Germany at the economy's deterioration.

ECONOMIST: The euro-area economy

However, Thomas Mayer, an economist at Goldman Sachs, argues that most of the blame for the divergence lies with domestic demand.

ECONOMIST: European economies

Thomas Mayer, an economist at Goldman Sachs, likens France and Germany to an aircraft carrier holding steady for the planes to land.

ECONOMIST: Alan Greenspan��s miracle cure

But the shift in economic fortunes is too sudden to be due solely to exports, according to Thomas Mayer of Deutsche Bank.

ECONOMIST: Europe��s monetary policy

The authors, Daniel Gros and Thomas Mayer, think the euro area should prepare for fiscal crises instead of trying only to prevent them.

ECONOMIST: Greece's sovereign-debt crunch

In effect, argues Thomas Mayer, an adviser to Deutsche Bank, Greece could create its own parallel and depreciated currency while still remaining in the monetary union.

ECONOMIST: Leaving the euro

Daniel Gros of the Centre for European Policy Studies and Thomas Mayer of Deutsche Bank think the EFSF should be registered as a bank and allowed to borrow from the ECB, using the government bonds it buys as collateral.

ECONOMIST: The world economy

But, as Thomas Mayer and Daniel Gros identified in a recent paper for the Centre for European Policy Studies, this problem can't be solved by simply expanding the EFSF - and not just because it takes so long to do it.

BBC: Central banks and the 'spirit of 2008'