Boom time for german economy ? - Political Forum

Voland · 01-04-2007, 11:41 AM

It looks as if those who lighthandedly wrote Germany off as a decaying economic power could have been wrong. Economic and structural reforms by the former governement of Gerhard Schröder, a booming export industry and corporate cost cutting are bearing fruit now and the trend points steadily upwards...

Letter From Berlin: Boom Time for Revamped German Economy - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News

francois60 · 01-04-2007, 12:18 PM

How much of the changes did Schroeder actually get through? He had some very good ideas but I thought there was too much opposition?

Anyway, 2.5% growth is considered decent but not spectacular on this side of the pond. Get back to me when you reel off three straight 3%+ years and get your unemployment under 7%.

Germany can certainly pull off a solid economic recovery. But there are still major changes that need to be made. There's just not enough labor flexibility in Germany and the government still spends more than the people can afford on social services.

Voland · 01-05-2007, 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by francois60

How much of the changes did Schroeder actually get through? He had some very good ideas but I thought there was too much opposition?

------ While Schröder couldn´t get many of his ideas through parliament still some of the most important changes in post-war social policies were introduced under him. The times when it paid to stay home and live from social security money instead of working are over for most.

Hartz concept - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Anyway, 2.5% growth is considered decent but not spectacular on this side of the pond. Get back to me when you reel off three straight 3%+ years and get your unemployment under 7%.

----------The unemployment is at least partially a legacy of the GDR and the reeunion process. Those who didn´t get a foot on the ground economically after 1990 or those who had jobs in the GDR which were gone later are included in that number.The reeunited Germany wasn´t looking for workers ( which were outsorced to Poland, the Czech republic, China, Korea ....) but for high qualified people with university degrees etc. If you were forty or older then you have a pretty good chance to be unemployed still ( until you reach the retirement age). Also note that Germany includes , unlike some other countries, everybody in that number, including disabled people etc...

Germany can certainly pull off a solid economic recovery. But there are still major changes that need to be made. There's just not enough labor flexibility in Germany and the government still spends more than the people can afford on social services.

------------Well, to be "as competitive as Britain" ( article) is not to bad , isn´t it ?

Voland · 01-05-2007, 09:51 AM

just wanted to point out that most of my answers are included in the quote part somehow...

george.d · 01-05-2007, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by francois60

Anyway, 2.5% growth is considered decent but not spectacular on this side of the pond. Get back to me when you reel off three straight 3%+ years and get your unemployment under 7%.

I'd have to disagree with comparing Germany's numbers to the US in a derogatory manner.

US GDP growth is, when pulling deficit/supplementary spending, Iraq expense and public trust looting plus those economic flow-through multipliers, stagnant or negative.

US publicized unemployment, since the shift to net (unemployment claims only) is also politically distorted, not including those who have dropped off the statistics. Include those, as Germany does, and we'd be at about 8%.

With Germany's positive balance of payments (US abnormally negative), being a creditor nation with over 35% of GDP coming from manufacturing of value added goods (US 20%) and (from CIA report) ~recognized as among the world's largest and most technologically advanced producers of iron, steel, coal, cement, chemicals, machinery, vehicles, machine tools, electronics, food and beverages, shipbuilding and textiles~, Germany has a far superior base for restructuring than the now service economy based US. The US hasn't produced tool steel in a long time, much less machinery, our vehicle industry is failing, electronic technology left us long ago, shipbuilding is now purely military based, etc., etc., with personal consumption and other service industries and war now being our primary growth industries.