Obama targets Merkel and advises Europe to ease austerity measures.

247 – With both eyes fixed on the November 6 presidential elections and polls already placing him at a disadvantage against Republican rival Mitt Romney, US President Barack Obama spontaneously sought out journalists at the White House on Thursday, the 8th, to discuss the European crisis. He adopted a position that, when compared to those of Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and President Dilma Rousseff, is much more aligned with that of the Brazilian leader and in opposition to the German leader's anti-crisis approach. Obama used the examples of how Italy and Spain have been struggling against the crisis to make his indirect criticism of Merkel's position.

"Countries like Italy and Spain," Obama began, "are undertaking structural reforms, from fiscal restructuring to labor reforms, that everyone believes are necessary." According to him, these movements "need some space and time to succeed." Then, the US president reached the, shall we say, developmentalist point of his speech: "However, if they are only cutting, cutting, and cutting, people are buying less and less because they feel enormous pressure. Ironically, this will make it more difficult for the reforms to achieve a good result. Therefore, I believe that, alongside measures to deal with debt and public finances, it is necessary for European leaders to see how to promote growth and demonstrate some flexibility so that these reforms can take root."

The dart, without a doubt, was aimed at Chancellor Merkel. Obama repeated to reporters what he had said last month in Chicago. "If there is less demand for our products in Paris or Madrid, that means less business in places like Pittsburgh and Milwaukee," he compared. "If Europe goes into recession, we will sell fewer products and provide fewer services."