Why is the German economy so strong?

FutileBreadMachine

FutileBreadMachine

FutileBreadMachine

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I have been meaning to post this for some time, and coincidentally, OCUK has just been bought by a German company, so here it finally is.

Germany lost 2 World Wars, and has been paying (is still paying?) reparations ever since. So how is it that they have the strongest economy in Europe? Do you think it's due to their cultural attitude to hard work (similar to Asian countries), or is it just the way the country has been governed (perhaps because they focus on producing quality engineering)?

I was hoping some economists could enlighten me. It seems like we should be learning from them, and it seems like it wouldn't be a bad idea for them to just take over Greece - would be rather nice to have another Germany in Europe instead of the bankrupt mess we have now! :D
 
Compound said:
It's because they have a huge manufacturing industry and make loads of items for export.
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Is it really as simple as that? I know they are respected for their manufacturing capabilities (BMW, Audi, Mercedes-Benz), so could Britain just turn away from the Financial Services focus it currently has, and focus on producing products for export and we'd be a big player in Europe again?
 
This is a very simplistic overview but they have a reasonably strong manufacturing industry. While they were hit hard at the beginning of the recession when countries ran out of money, once countries needed goods, Germany's export industry provided an income. Britain in contrast has little manufacturing and export in the form of physical goods (we sell technology and brainpower, if you like) so our recovery is likely to be slower from that side.

In terms of world wars and damage, Germany was able to rebuild its infrastructure in a very efficient way. Britain still operates around a dated infrastructure and layout that goes back to Roman times and how the industrial revolution formed around it. It's not an efficient layout for today's life e.g. road layouts, train network.
 
RationalGaze said:
Is it really as simple as that? I know they are respected for their manufacturing capabilities (BMW, Audi, Mercedes-Benz), so could Britain just turn away from the Financial Services focus it currently has, and focus on producing products for export and we'd be a big player in Europe again?
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I don't think its as easy, the german car brands mentioned have a very good reputation abroad and are exported a lot - in China the selling prices for German cars are often double of what they are in Europe and they sell a lot there.

Germany exported $1,3 trillion in 2011 vs China $1,9 trillion
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2012/02/08/german_exports_up_114_percent_in_2011/

Of course not just cars ... famous white goods brands, machinery, trains etc.

Aren't the Thameslink trains also being built by the Germans (Siemens?)
 
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Compound said:
It's because they have a huge manufacturing industry and make loads of items for export.
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This.

They are also "experts" in a lot of specialised fields. They have a lot of smaller manufacturing companies producing goods that hardly any other companies in the world produce. ONe that springs to mind being the company that produces presses for recycling cardboard in supermarkets.
 
Porn and sausages. *citation needed* :p

Also, those wars paved the way to the modern world and they had a chance to rebuild, just like Japan and they're economic power.

Engineering is paramount in Germany too.
 
Because they build quality products & not only sell them to the rest of the World they buy them themselves.
Drive past a BMW factory & see how many BMW's & other German marques are in the car park owned by workers then go past a Ford factory & do the same.
Only my opinion of course. ;)
 
Germans also specialise in maufacturing machinery (factory machines) and nuclear power station design and implementation. I know a nuclear power station in south africa was built and maintained by german engineers. A lot advanced machinery in chinese factories and around the world are designed and built in germany.
 
They have always had a government with common sense, this trickles down through the councils and to the individuals. They don't have morons running things, hence why they do so well.
 
Because they're not work shy, have respect for engineers, innovation and development, aren't worried about standing in what they believe in, and don't molly coddle those around them. They get what they want and work very hard in getting to that point.
 
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