Germany Calls on U.S. to Tighten Belt

German Finance Minister Hans Eichel on Friday called on the United States to do the world economy a favor and watch its own deficit spending. In an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper, Eichel said that U.S. budget policy represents an enormous economic impluse, and that a long-term continuation of the current deficit would have a dramatic and negative impact on the world economy. The opposition Chrisitian Democrats called on Eichel to take a look in his own back yard before pointing the finger of blame across the Atlantic. But Eichel is optimistic that Europe is about to undergo an economic shift, and has created optimal conditions for economic growth potential.