When Wolfgang Schauble talks, Europe listens because it has to. As Finance Minister of the continent’s biggest and strongest economy, the man has considerable credibility and clout. The 17-country euro zone would be toast without Germany’s sponsorship of the bailouts of Greece, Ireland and Portugal.

The problem is that Mr. Schauble now and again comes up with some pretty strange ideas. A few of them, if adopted, might make a bad situation worse.