Poll: Who Is Right in the "Crass" Bailouts Row?

German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck singled out British Prime Minister Gordon Brown for criticism in a "Newsweek" interview, accusing him of switching to economic policies that would saddle a generation with debt.

"The same people who would never touch deficit spending are now tossing around billions," Steinbrueck said. "The switch from decades of supply-side politics all the way to a crass Keynesianism is breathtaking."

"For a while the position in Brussels and a few other places has been, 'We're now very much for setting up large-scale spending programmes, but we're not really going to ask what the exact effects of those might be. And since the amounts are so high, well, let's get the Germans to pay because they can'," said Steinbrueck.