Deregulating Financial Markets Was ‘Stupidity,’ Says Schaeuble

(Bloomberg) -- Known for his resolute fiscal discipline during the euro crisis, Wolfgang Schaeuble made an unusual plea to tame market forces, saying that deregulation before the financial crisis was a "stupidity."

"The motto was deregulation, deregulation, deregulation, until everything blew up," he said. "Freedom needs restrictions."

Schaeuble made the comment while discussing the role of the market in new environmental policies at a CDU event in Berlin on Tuesday. Now head of Germany’s parliament, or Bundestag, Schaeuble said that deregulation was one of the stupidities committed by the Christian Democrats.

Schaeuble’s comments come at a moment when a looming recession has renewed government concerns over Germany’s two largest lenders, Deutsche Bank AG and Commerzbank AG.

To contact the reporter on this story: Arne Delfs in Berlin at adelfs@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net, Raymond Colitt, Andrew Blackman

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