Germany now owns Europe and if the rest of us want to enjoy the benefits of European political and financial union then we better start acting more German. That’s the broad c0nclusion of Michael Lewis’s latest article on the European economy which is published in this month’s Vanity Fair. As with his previous articles on Ireland, Iceland and Greece it’s well worth a read.

Lewis explores the German national character which he reckons is overly scatalogical and concludes that any society that is obsessed with cleanliness on the outside and dirt on the inside was bound to be a sucker for triple A rated bonds stuffed full of sub-prime loans.

There’s an interesting line about Ireland, and one that should concern us if European leaders continue to play catch up with this crisis:

The German government gives money to the European Union rescue fund so that it can give money to the Irish government so that the Irish government can give money to Irish banks so the Irish banks can repay their loans to the German banks. “They are playing billiards,” says [German economist Henrik] Enderlein. “The easier way to do it would be to give German money to the German banks and let the Irish banks fail.”

Some commentators, including my colleague Dominic Coyle last Monday, have pointed out that the nub of the issue is whether the Germans want to pick up the tab for the rest of the euro zone. A senior official at the Bundesbank suggested to Lewis that Germany may be in a better position to do that than many people think:

“We have 3,400 tons of gold,” he said. “We are the only country that has not sold its original allotment from the [late 1940s]. So we are covered to some extent.”

Beautifully written and researched as usual Lewis’s article provides plenty of food for thought. Hopefully it will be read in the Élysée Palace and Bundestag.