Accessibility helpSkip to navigationSkip to contentSkip to footer

Cookies on FT Sites

We use cookies and other data for a number of reasons, such as keeping FT Sites reliable and secure, personalising content and ads, providing social media features and to analyse how our Sites are used.

Accept cookies
Manage cookies
  • Sign In
  • Subscribe
Open side navigation menuOpen search bar
Financial Times
SubscribeSign InmyFT
  • Home
  • World
    Sections
    • World Home
    • Global Economy
    • UK
    • US
    • China
    • Africa
    • Asia Pacific
    • Emerging Markets
    • Europe
    • War in Ukraine
    • Americas
    • Middle East & North Africa
    • Australia & NZ
    Most Read
    • Joe Biden raised Canadian Sikh’s death with India’s Narendra Modi at G20
    • The decoy weapons leading Russian forces astray in Ukraine
    • F-35 fighter jets can only fly 55% of time, US watchdog says
    • Russian state TV promotes new Tucker Carlson show
    • India stops issuing visas to Canadians as row escalates
  • US
    Sections
    • US Home
    • US Economy
    • US Companies
    • US Politics & Policy
    Most Read
    • Companies
      Sections
      • Companies Home
      • Energy
      • Financials
      • Health
      • Industrials
      • Media
      • Professional Services
      • Retail & Consumer
      • Tech Sector
      • Telecoms
      • Transport
      Most Read
      • Asahi chief warns climate change could lead to beer shortages
      • Rupert Murdoch resolves his own succession drama — for now
      • Crispin Odey faces first lawsuit over alleged sexual misconduct
      • Silchester-backed asset management boutique shuts its doors
      • FTC lawsuit targets serial acquisitions by private equity
    • Tech
    • Markets
      Sections
      • Markets Home
      • Alphaville
      • Markets Data
      • Cryptofinance
      • Capital Markets
      • Commodities
      • Currencies
      • Equities
      • Fund Management
      • Trading
      • Moral Money
      • ETF Hub
      Most Read
      • Live news: Fed officials ‘not ready to declare victory’ and signal more rate rises
      • Jeremy Hunt plans Isa overhaul to boost share ownership
      • How Xi Jinping is taking control of China’s stock market
      • Monzo clients rush to sign up for BlackRock offering
      • Russia puts squeeze on oil market with diesel export ban
    • Climate
    • Opinion
      Sections
      • Opinion Home
      • Columnists
      • The FT View
      • Lex
      • Obituaries
      • Letters
      Most Read
      • How to save your state pension
      • Russell Brand learnt his tricks in television studios
      • Are we destined for a zero-sum future?
      • Lachlan’s accession won’t put an end to Murdoch family strife
      • Rachel Reeves: From the OBR to new fiscal rules, we will bring back stability
    • Work & Careers
      Sections
      • Work & Careers Home
      • Business School Rankings
      • Business Education
      • Entrepreneurship
      • Recruitment
      • Business Books
      • Business Travel
      Most Read
      • ‘There is no work to balance’: how shrinking budgets, Covid and AI shook up life in consulting
      • American Express’s Steve Squeri: ‘If you’re not ready for the upswing, you’ve missed’
      • FT Business Books — what to read this month
      • Can I start a business when I have MS?
      • The plight of the hidden carers in your workforce
    • Life & Arts
      Sections
      • Life & Arts Home
      • Arts
      • Books
      • Food & Drink
      • FT Magazine
      • House & Home
      • Style
      • Travel
      • FT Globetrotter
      Most Read
      • Anna Wintour: ‘I just have to make sure things are being done right’
      • Who’d invite the boss to dinner?
      • Bosses won’t like it but WFH is a happier way to work
      • PowerPoint is widely reviled. How did it triumph?
      • John Fetterman, dress codes and American anarchy
    • HTSI
    MenuSearch
    • Home
    • World
    • US
    • Companies
    • Tech
    • Markets
    • Climate
    • Opinion
    • Work & Careers
    • Life & Arts
    • HTSI
    Financial Times
    SubscribeSign In

    Wolfgang Münchau

    Former European Commentator

    Wolfgang Münchau was an associate editor of the Financial Times, where he wrote a weekly column about the European Union and the European economy. Before taking up this position in September 2003, he was co-editor of Financial Times Deutschland for two years.

    Before joining FT Deutschland, Mr Münchau was a Frankfurt correspondent and later economics correspondent of the Financial Times, reporting on the preparation for the final stage of monetary union and the launch of the euro.

    Add to myFT Digest

    Add this topic to your myFT Digest for news straight to your inbox

    • Sunday, 27 September, 2020
      European Union
      Complacent insiders sow the seeds of their own demise

      Different qualities help nonconformist challengers to succeed

      Former UK prime minister David Cameron, centre, with other EU leaders soon after the country's Brexit referendum in 2016
    • Sunday, 20 September, 2020
      European Union
      Beware of smoke and mirrors in the EU’s recovery fund

      National political pressures will divert money from truly worthwhile projects

      The European Commission has set out guidelines on how EU governments should spend the recovery fund
    • Sunday, 13 September, 2020
      Coronavirus
      Sweden’s Covid-19 experiment holds a worldwide warning

      Do not jump to conclusions about lockdowns before all the data is in and analysed

    • Sunday, 6 September, 2020
      Eurozone economy
      ECB should ignore latest central bank inflation fad

      There are more pressing real economy issues than tweaking its price targeting regime

      This is an environment in which European policymakers and central bankers need to stay focused
    • Sunday, 30 August, 2020
      Eurozone economy
      Europe needs to avoid a ‘decade of forbearance’

      Otherwise its economy will emerge from this crisis weakened, yet again

    • Sunday, 23 August, 2020
      Brexit
      The risk of a no-deal Brexit is rising, and that’s no bad thing

      The EU cannot deny the UK the same discretionary approach of its own competition policy

      The UK's chief negotiator David Frost with the EU's Michel Barnier. Britain should prioritise exploiting the potential of Brexit, rather than minimising its costs
    • Sunday, 19 July, 2020
      Central banks
      A flexible inflation target is not a panacea

      Central banks are attracted to a policy that would give them more flexibility during a crisis, but it has downsides

      Christine Lagarde, ECB president. If the central bank conducts its policy review and adopts an average target of, say, 2 per cent, it would give itself more flexibility
    • Sunday, 12 July, 2020
      Technology sector
      Covid-19 will finally mark the end of the analogue age

      The pandemic has accelerated society’s shift to a more digital world

      The dying of the analogue world will also shift power
    • Sunday, 5 July, 2020
      Eurozone reform
      Will Angela Merkel save Europe?

      Solving the EU’s problems will take more than her coronavirus recovery plan

      Angela Merkel has not shown many moments of true leadership, and when she did, she took the decision unilaterally
    • Sunday, 28 June, 2020
      Eurozone economy
      A rapid rebound would challenge EU contradictions

      While welcome, swift economic recovery would pose awkward questions for monetary and fiscal policy

    • Sunday, 21 June, 2020
      Trade disputes
      A truly ugly transatlantic trade war is looming

      Both the US and EU are being unreasonable, be it over digital taxes, food, gas or cars

    • Sunday, 14 June, 2020
      3D printing
      3D printing can be a real source for optimism

      The Covid-19 lockdown could provide the boost the technology needs

      A survey has found that more companies are now considering using 3D printing for end production rather than just prototypes
    • Sunday, 7 June, 2020
      Brexit
      The UK and EU are facing the most extreme version of Brexit

      Political miscalculations have harmed negotiations that could well fail to secure a trade deal

      FILE PHOTO: European Union chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier and British Prime Minister's Europe adviser David Frost 5 are seen at start of the first round of post -Brexit trade deal talks between the EU and the United Kingdom, in Brussels, Belgium March 2, 2020. Oliver Hoslet/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
    • Sunday, 31 May, 2020
      EU economy
      Europe cannot fudge its way to a federal future

      The EU’s emergency budget increase is not all it seems, and Germany is still no convert to a fiscal union

      European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen addresses the Plenary of the European Parliament on a new proposal for the EU's joint 2021-27 budget and an accompanying Recovery Instrument to kickstart economic activity in the bloc ravaged by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Brussels, Belgium, May 27, 2020. REUTERS/Johanna Geron
    • Sunday, 24 May, 2020
      European Union
      China is pitting EU countries against each other

      Italy’s lurch towards full-blown Euroscepticism threatens the bloc’s stability

      Tobias Jakob, an employee of German manufacturer of industrial robots and automation solutions KUKA, poses for pictures at the company's training center in Augsburg, Germany, March 28, 2019. REUTERS/Andreas Gebert
    • Sunday, 17 May, 2020
      European Union
      A failure of storytelling is stoking identity politics in Europe

      To defeat Euroscepticism, leaders in Brussels must change the narrative 

      Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf shadow puppets. ROYALTY-FREE STOCK PHOTO Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf shadow puppetsDOWNLOAD PREVIEW Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf shadow puppets and their shades on the soft glowing screen of shadow theater. little red riding hood,shadow puppets,big bad wolf,shadow,bad,big,hood,little,red,riding,theater,wolf,afraid,anxiety,attractive,basket,beast,black,child,childish,danger,evil,fable,fairytale More ID 69265709 © Waffleboo | Dreamstime.com
    • Sunday, 10 May, 2020
      European Central Bank
      The European Central Bank is deluding itself over German court ruling

      A smart response would be for the EU to address the problems of the eurozone head on

      FILE PHOTO: Andreas Vosskuhle (2ndL), President of Germany's Constitutional Court, attends the ruling on the legality of a European Central Bank emergency bond-buying scheme at the court in Karlsruhe, Germany June 21, 2016. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski/File Photo
    • Sunday, 3 May, 2020
      European Central Bank
      Don’t blame German judges if they say No to ECB asset purchases

      It would be the underlying law and EU treaty that needs changing, not the ruling

      Judges of first Division of the Federal Constitutional Court announce the judgment on an anti-terror law saying it violated privacy protections enshrined in the constitution, on April 20, 2016 in Karlsruhe. The legislation passed in 2008 and covering the activities of the federal police in surveillance of terror suspects must be reworked by June 2018, the Federal Constitutional Court in the southwestern city of Karlsruhe ruled. / AFP / dpa / Uli Deck / Germany OUT (Photo credit should read ULI DECK/AFP/Getty Images)
    • Sunday, 26 April, 2020
      EU economy
      How to think about the EU’s rescue fund

      We do not need another big lending programme; equity investments would get us out of the credit-versus-loans debate

      FRANKFURT AM MAIN, GERMANY - MARCH 12: Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, speaks to the media following a meeting of the ECB governing board at ECB headquarters on March 12, 2020 in Frankfurt, Germany. The ECB is pursuing measures to counter the economic impact of the rapidly spreading coronavirus. The number of confirmed cases across Europe has reached 25,000. (Photo by Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images)
    • Sunday, 19 April, 2020
      Eurozone economy
      Italy is in more danger than the eurozone will acknowledge

      It is hard to overstate the turn to Euroscepticism. It will not go away when lockdown ends

      A carabineri police officer talks to a woman wearing a face mask at the Gianicolo hill overlooking Rome, on Monday, April 13, 2020. The Italian government says beefed-up police patrols over Easter weekend have resulted in more than 12,500 people being sanctioned and 150 facing criminal charges for allegedly violating anti-coronavirus lockdown measures, which only allow people to move around for work, health reasons or some other necessity, such as grocery shopping or walking the dog. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (Cecilia Fabiano/LaPresse via AP)
    • Sunday, 12 April, 2020
      Eurozone economy
      How the next euro crisis could unfold

      What if Italy cannot service its debt and a future government is tempted to default?

      epa08354206 A handout photo made available by the EU Council shows Eurogroup President Mario Centeno (Top R) giving a press briefing at the end of Eurogroup Finance minister video meeting in Lisbon, Portugal, 09 April 2020 while delivering a video message to EU finance ministers. Centeno in a video message appealed to EU finance ministers to agree to a bold and ambitious financial plan to shield the EU economies in response to the common threat of Corronavirus, Covid-19, that threatenes to push the region into a deep recession. The video was recorded ahead of the Eurogroup video conference call EPA-EFE/PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA / EU COUNCIL HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES
    • Sunday, 5 April, 2020
      Coronavirus
      Germany’s testing success looks real — for now

      But statistics that show how many days one country is behind another are humbug

      Doctors receive instructions for a respirator system at the intensive care unit of the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in Hamburg, Germany, March 25, 2020, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues. Axel Heimken/Pool via REUTERS
    • Sunday, 29 March, 2020
      Eurozone reform
      Go-it-alone eurozone ‘coronabonds’ are worth the risk

      Nine countries can make a stand for sharing the fiscal burden of the pandemic

      TOPSHOT - A woman wearing a protective face mask buys cheese at a store in the center of Montpellier, south of France, on March 25, 2020, on the ninth day of a strict lockdown in France aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19 caused by the novel coronavirus. (Photo by Pascal GUYOT / AFP) (Photo by PASCAL GUYOT/AFP via Getty Images)
    • Sunday, 22 March, 2020
      Coronavirus
      Europe needs a new scale of stimulus — and cash not credit

      Direct payments should be made to citizens and companies

      (FILES) In this file photo taken on December 12, 2019 Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank (ECB), addresses the media during a news conference following the meeting of the governing council of the ECB in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany. - The ECB, who will hold their press conference on eurozone monetary policy on February 12, 2020, is under pressure to show it too has the firepower to respond to the coronavirus crisis and shore up the eurozone economy after other major central banks have already leapt into the breach. (Photo by Daniel ROLAND / AFP) (Photo by DANIEL ROLAND/AFP via Getty Images)
    • Sunday, 15 March, 2020
      European Union
      Eurozone stability is under threat again

      Without a co-ordinated response, national stimulus policies will end up increasing imbalances

      FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde gestures during a news conference on the outcome of the meeting of the Governing Council, in Frankfurt, Germany, March 12, 2020. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach/File Photo
    Previous page You are on page 1 Next page

    Useful links

    Support

    View Site TipsHelp CentreContact UsAbout UsAccessibilitymyFT TourCareers

    Legal & Privacy

    Terms & ConditionsPrivacy PolicyCookiesCopyrightSlavery Statement & Policies

    Services

    Share News Tips SecurelyIndividual SubscriptionsProfessional SubscriptionsRepublishingExecutive Job SearchAdvertise with the FTFollow the FT on XFT ChannelsFT Schools

    Tools

    PortfolioToday’s Newspaper (FT Digital Edition)Alerts HubBusiness School RankingsEnterprise ToolsNews feedNewslettersCurrency Converter

    Community & Events

    FT CommunityFT Live EventsFT ForumsFT Board DirectorBoard Director Programme

    More from the FT Group

    Markets data delayed by at least 15 minutes. © THE FINANCIAL TIMES LTD 2023. FT and ‘Financial Times’ are trademarks of The Financial Times Ltd.
    The Financial Times and its journalism are subject to a self-regulation regime under the FT Editorial Code of Practice.
    Financial Times

    International Edition

    Subscribe for full access
    • Switch to UK Edition

    Top sections

    • Home
    • World
      • Global Economy
      • UK
      • US
      • China
      • Africa
      • Asia Pacific
      • Emerging Markets
      • Europe
      • War in Ukraine
      • Americas
      • Middle East & North Africa
      • Australia & NZ
    • US
      • US Economy
      • US Companies
      • US Politics & Policy
    • Companies
      • Energy
      • Financials
      • Health
      • Industrials
      • Media
      • Professional Services
      • Retail & Consumer
      • Tech Sector
      • Telecoms
      • Transport
    • Tech
    • Markets
      • Alphaville
      • Markets Data
      • Cryptofinance
      • Capital Markets
      • Commodities
      • Currencies
      • Equities
      • Fund Management
      • Trading
      • Moral Money
      • ETF Hub
    • Climate
    • Opinion
      • Columnists
      • The FT View
      • Lex
      • Obituaries
      • Letters
    • Work & Careers
      • Business School Rankings
      • Business Education
      • Entrepreneurship
      • Recruitment
      • Business Books
      • Business Travel
    • Life & Arts
      • Arts
      • Books
      • Food & Drink
      • FT Magazine
      • House & Home
      • Style
      • Travel
      • FT Globetrotter
    • Personal Finance
      • Property & Mortgages
      • Investments
      • Pensions
      • Tax
      • Banking & Savings
      • Advice & Comment
      • Next Act
    • HTSI
    • Special Reports

    FT recommends

    • Lex
    • Alphaville
    • Lunch with the FT
    • FT Globetrotter
    • #techAsia
    • Moral Money
    • Visual and data journalism
    • Newsletters
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • News feed
    • FT Live Events
    • FT Forums
    • Board Director Programme
    • myFT
    • Portfolio
    • Today’s Newspaper (FT Digital Edition)
    • Crossword
    • Our Apps
    • Help Centre
    • Subscribe
    • Sign In