So many things are dying at the moment - an entire free-spending epoch is being laid to rest - that I wondered which particular burial she had in mind.

Germany's exporters cannot live off China alone, and their other big customers, in America, Britain, eastern Europe and Spain, will not be as free-spending as they once were.

If deflation took hold, the gap in demand left by those fleeing debt would not be filled by cash-rich consumers, who tend to be less free-spending.