TOO OLD TO CHANGE:

In Germany's Election, Germans Lose: With Angela Merkel failing to get a clear-cut victory for the CDU, the result will be a coalition that won't be able to tackle the real issues (Jack Ewing, 9/19/05, Business Week)

Germans have a reputation for being averse to change. Based on the results of Sept. 18 national elections, it appears there's something to that stereotype. German citizens gave far fewer votes than predicted to Angela Merkel and the center-right Christian Democratic Union, after Merkel ran a campaign based on the premise that painful change is needed to preserve Germany's standard of living.

It's not a function of being German.

Posted by Orrin Judd at September 18, 2005 10:59 PM