The cases for and against a new grand coalition in Germany - What would Willy do? 
With the Social Democrats about to decide on entering formal negotiations, here are the arguments:
Berlin, Jan.19.– On Sunday Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD) gather in Bonn, by the River Rhine, to decide whether to proceed to formal negotiations with Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Christian Social Union (CSU) allies. The choice will be made around mid-afternoon by 600 delegates comprising groups representing each of the 16 federal states according to population (the largest, North Rhine-Westphalia, sends 144).
It happens that the venue of the conference, in a southern suburb of the old West German capital, is within walking distance of Bad Godesberg. It was here, in 1959, that the SPD abandoned its old Marxist theories and embraced reform capitalism. This turning point paved the way to the election of Willy Brandt (pictured, above, addressing the conference in his capacity as West Berlin’s mayor) as the federal republic’s first SPD chancellor a decade later.
To listen to some in the party, Sunday’s meeting could be almost as fateful; another turning point in the party’s history at which its identity and purpose hang in the balance. It is no exaggeration to say that opponents of further talks with Mrs Merkel, led by the Young Socialists, the party’s youth wing, consider another round as her junior partners a threat to the SPD’s very survival as a prospective lead party of government.
As I describe in this week’s issue of The Economist, the battle between supporters and opponents of a new “grand coalition” has been hard-fought, and at times emotional ...
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