An air of quiet optimism is spreading across Germany. Time magazine has nominated chancellor Angela Merkel as one of the world's 100 most influential people in honour of her capacity allegedly to make Germans smile again. Business optimism measured by the IFO index is the highest for 15 years. The German stock market, which fell faster than most others between 2000 and 2003, has outpaced London and Wall Street with a 150% rise over the past three years.
It's a far cry from last September's elections, when The Economist dubbed the inconclusive result "Germany's nightmare". In the intervening eight months, Merkel has established a centre-right grand coalition â made up of her Christian Democrats and the Social Democrats â that looks likely to stay for the four-year legislative period.
