German History Weighs On European Central Bank

In the wake of the financial crisis, the Federal Reserve took drastic measures to shore up the U.S. financial system. Now as Europe enters its worst economic debacle since World War II, economists and politicians are calling on the European Central Bank to pull off a similar rescue.

So far, it has not.

The reasons for the Frankfurt-based central bank's reluctance can be traced back to Germany's troubled past, which includes both world wars and the enduring legacy of Adolf Hitler.

History is proving an inescapable weight on the continent's ability to save itself from economic peril. "German memory of the hyperinflation in the early 1920s and then the absolute destruction of the economy and money by 1945 -- those are things that people haven't forgotten," said University of Pennsylvania political science professor Ellen Kennedy, author of "The Bundesbank: Germany's Central Bank in the International Monetary System." "Those are well within living memory."...