Oder (won’t they? fix this mess?)? After doing something the Germans call Shakehands with top GM executives in US-Amerika, and then getting a green light from them (GM is interested in keeping a minority stake in Opel), German Economy Minister (Mininster for the Economy?) Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg now sees hope for the ailing German-American, American-German car maker after all.

Although the German government was completely unconvinced by the rescue plan Opel submitted to them earlier this month, rightly arguing that it left too many questions unanswered, Guttenberg figures he can now convince our smart guys in Washington with the same plan, easy. And he’s probably right, too. These guys will buy anything.

The Germans are reluctant to throw tons of money at Opel unless it stands a good chance of surviving the current crisis, you see, AND unless they can avoid seeing any German state aid being funneled across the Atlantic to prop up that evil Mother of All Car Companies, GM. They aren’t doof (stupid). They want it the other way around. GM gets the money from the US government and then indirectly subsidizes Opel by taking a minority stake as private investor.

Like I said, Herr zu Guttenberg is optimistic and I don’t blame him one bit for being so. This plan sounds bullet-proof to me. This is true German economics in action. He’s the Economy Minister, remember? Minister for the Economy, I mean.

„Aufschluss über die Haltung der US-Regierung erwartete sich der Bundeswirtschaftsminister aus den geplanten Gesprächen mit dem US-amerikanischen Finanzminister Timothy Geithner. Doch der hat in der Krise mit den Schwierigkeiten der US-Finanzfirmen wie dem Versicherer AIG noch ganz andere Probleme als Opel und General Motors auf dem Tisch.“