Just as the UK's economy appeared to be stabilising with fewer inflationary pressures and the oil dispute not biting, the German economy looks set to slide into stagnation.
There are a number of reasons for this but the chief one is obviously the election result over the weekend - a dead heat is almost unprecedented, and a dead heat between polar opposites means no-one knows what's likely to happen.
Germany is one of the biggest economies in the Euro zone, of course, so this will probably affect the currency for everyone. I'd freely admit that only a few years ago I was a Euro advocate; I'm now mightily glad we didn't join when I said we should.
For the moment, people exporting goods anywhere in Europe can expect a tough time as the falling Euro pushes your prices up.
