Germany, the Crisis and the G-8 When the leaders of the Group of 8 gather at Camp David on Friday, President Obama and the others must press Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany to commit to a euro-zone growth package. This is no time to mince words: Her one-size-fits-all austerity program has been a failure, pushing heavily indebted countries deeper into recession, making it even harder for them to pay off their debts. It is putting the already-weak recovery in the United States at risk and is fueling instability and extremism in Europe. After months of obstinance, Ms. Merkel has softened her stance - saying that Germany is open to stimulus to spur growth, employment and development in Greece and pledging to work with the new French president, François Hollande, on a program to promote growth across recession-racked Europe. It is unclear, however, whether her comments reflect a true and lasting change of heart. Ms. Merkel's new talking points appear to be driven mainly by the defeat in France of Nicolas Sarkozy, her longtime partner-in-austerity, and the spreading chaos in Greece, where anti-austerity voters brought down the government this month and fears that the country could soon exit the euro have provoked a run on the banks and capital flight. German officials made things worse by talking about the euro zone's ability to carry on without Greece. Ms. Merkel is now insisting that she wants Greece to remain, but it will take more than kind words to change things. What is needed is a real "growth compact" to boost the capacity of the European Investment Bank and other European Union funds to invest in infrastructure and other job-creating projects in crisis countries. It would need to be coupled with a plan to soften or delay agreed-upon spending cuts. That would be a breakthrough but only a start on the road to recovery. Germany still strongly opposes a sensible plan, endorsed by the International Monetary Fund, in which euro-zone members jointly issue bonds. Such bonds would both help pay for stimulus projects while easing borrowing costs for vulnerable countries like Spain and Italy. Some German voters have also begun to question austerity. But after insisting for so long that the profligate must pay for their sins, Ms. Merkel will need political cover from her fellow leaders. And there is no question that many of the struggling countries need to reform. Greece and many others need to collect taxes, reform their labor markets and commit to honest and transparent budgeting. France could also soften its resistance to stronger pan-European institutions. That would allow for more effective decision-making on financial reform, emergency aid, fiscal discipline and structural reforms. Everyone needs a way out. At the G-8 meeting, world leaders must find one.