Bonn's belt-tightening
One symbol of West Germany's postwar Wirtschaftswunder, or economic miracle, has long been the muscular deutsche mark, which gained strength as the currencies of other industrial states went soft and saggy. But the mark has been taking a beating itself since Oct. 31, and two weeks ago it staggered so badly that the central banks of the U.S., Britain and France had to take rushed measures to prop it up. Before it began to recover last week, the mark slumped to a low of 51.2¢ against the dollar, a prolonged slide from its high of 58.8¢ last January. It was...
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