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| Europe |
| Germany Slides To End Of The List Of 20 Industrial Countries |
| 2004-08-18 |
| How the mighty have fallen German research organisation, Bertelsmann Foundation, says Germany's ranking has declined to the lowest among the world's 20 developed member countries in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Germany's ranking has been particularly impacted by its weakness in economic growth and rigid labour market, the organisation said following a study it conducted. Called "Benchmarking 2004: Labour Market and Employment", the study makes a comparative evaluation of the various states based on factors such as unemployment rate and the gross domestic product. While in 1991 Germany was still ahead of other countries such as the USA, Britain, Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands, these countries have, meanwhile, been able to overtake Germany mainly because of two factors: the weak labour market and the low economic growth in Germany. "Other countries have succeeded, despite the same basic global economic conditions, to increase employment," maintains Eric Thode, an economic researcher with the Bertelsmann Foundation and a co-author of the study. Since the last study was compiled, some 700,000 jobs were lost in Germany. Between 2000 and 2002, the employment rate (the share of the working force having a steady job) was around 65.3 percent. As a comparison, some 80 percent of the work force in Switzerland have jobs. "Viewed from a long-term perspective, the employment rate in Germany has stagnated at a relatively low level," the Bertelsmann study says. "A big problem is that no new jobs are being created because of over-regulations," says Thode. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #7 TGA, when Germany was reunited, the industrial base must have been as unbalanced as America was after the Civil War. Has there been any progress with respect to improving infra-structure or is the process still in the hazmat clean-up stage? |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-08-19 12:30:36 AM |
| #6 And check how the average Chinese away from Shanghai or Indian away from Bangalore lives... China, with its ever growing needs for energy, would probably implode if we faced a real energy crisis. |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2004-08-19 12:06:34 AM |
| #5 TGA, whoever barfed out this new list demonstrates a total lack of understanding about what the industrial base of a country really is. I am sure that India or China can chunk out an impressive GNP, but the most important part of an industrial country is the infrastructure and production equipment - some of it so old that it has been depreciated off the books. An example can be seen in Iraq where Sadaam spent his hords on weapons and palaces instead of powere generators. Now lack of power generation will strangle their growth for at least the next decade and the problem will only be eventually be solved if they decide to bite the bullet and invest continuously. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-08-18 11:59:00 PM |
| #4 Last time I checked, Germany was still the 3rd largest economy in the world, and we export more goods (services excepted) than any other country in the world. Yes we have problems, we missed opportunities in the 90s, we let ourselves be dragged down somewhat by the rotten East German economy. If you took the figures for West Germany alone, you'd see what I mean. Unemployment in Southern Bavaria or Baden-Wuerttenberg hovers around 5-6 %, while in the East it can jump to 25% in some regions. What we need to do: Enact radical labor market reforms Push for tax cuts Bush style Push for social security reforms plan for a smart immigration policy (mandatory integration, not parallel "multiculturalism") abolish unnecessary bureaucracy As for foreign policy, I don't need to explain again what needs to be done |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2004-08-18 11:34:56 PM |
| #3 I guess acquiring Chrysler wasn't the answer. :-) On a reality note - I don't know who theses 20 states are but with respect to economic power Germany is definitely not 21. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-08-18 11:12:04 PM |
| #2 But they just invented the anti-Stehpinkler device! I can't believe this! If we do pull more troops out of Germany and close down bases, it doesn't look much better for their economy in the short term. |
| Posted by: Dar 2004-08-18 11:59:54 AM |
| #1 What happened in 1990? West Germany absorbed East Germany. Germany did not do a great job of bringing their easterners back into the fold. It took about 100 years for the south to be fully re-integrated into the U. S. after the civil war, so we shoiuld not expect Germanys aggregate numbers to return to the top of the heap anytime soon. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2004-08-18 10:20:52 AM |