There is a widespread belief that Germany is the big winner of the euro crisis, as investors stash their money in the euro zone's last safe haven, driving interest rates on German bonds down to record lows. But the idea is just a myth. Indeed, the crisis could end up costing Berlin dearly.

A German engineering company: The idea that Germany is
only benefiting from the euro crisis is just a myth.
Photo by DPA.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti is a thoroughly levelheaded man who feels a close affinity to Germany's famous stability culture when it comes to economic policies. Nevertheless, he has had nothing good to say about Berlin in the last few weeks. That's partly because he sees German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble as a secret beneficiary of the euro crisis. Germany, says Monti, benefits more from the euro than others.

Even German experts are convinced that Germany is profiting as a result of the currency crisis, while others are the losers. Because the country is seen as a safe haven on the crisis-plagued continent, investors are currently pouring billions into Germany. This is pushing down interest rates on government bonds to historic lows. "Germany is currently living at the expense of the other euro-zone countries," says Theodor Weimer, head of the board of the HypoVereinsbank bank. According to calculations performed by the Cologne Institute for Economic Research (IW), which is closely aligned with employers, the low bond rates will translate into savings of €45 billion ($59 billion) in the medium term for the German Finance Ministry.

As a result, the German government is under growing pressure to contribute even more money to efforts to rescue the euro. Germany, critics argue, cannot benefit from the crisis and be miserly at the same time.

'Germany Is A Clear Loser'

This supposedly logical argument is currently widespread throughout Europe. But there is just one problem: It's a myth. Any examination of how the euro crisis affects German government finances quickly reveals that the costs far outweigh the benefits. "Others might be more hard-hit, but Germany is a clear loser in the debt crisis," says Clemens Fuest, an Oxford University-based economist who will be the future head of the Center for European Economic Research (ZEW).