3 ms·

Worth noting that Germany was considered "the sick man of Europe" due to its poor growth and high unemployment from the middle of the nineties to a bit into the

by Erikun 10y ago

Worth noting that Germany was considered "the sick man of Europe" due to its poor growth and high unemployment from the middle of the nineties to a bit into the 2000s. Not sure that is the entire explanation of his problems, but is probably related.

netsharc 10y ago
The "recovery" out of that sickness is a bit fake, it's just because 18 other countries agreed to use German currency (a.k.a. the Euro) that Germany now is looking better than the rest of the continent: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jun/22/greece-eurozone-germans-single-currency http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jun/22/greece-... And Hartz IV is a neo-liberal's wet dream.
- allendoerfer 10y ago
  It was more like "other countries (aka France) demanded the Germanies to join the Euro in order for them to reunite". No Euro, no reunification. The German people were really scared of joining weak currencies like the Lira and others, having gone through multiple hyperinflations historically and finally having a super solid and strong Mark. That is also why the ECB is a) independent of the member state goverments and b) in Frankfurt and not somewhere in France or Belgium like the other EU buildings are.
  - eru 10y ago
    > [...] having gone through multiple hyperinflations historically [...] In the 20s and at the end of WWII? Any other one I missed?
    - allendoerfer 10y ago
      Not to my knowledge. Maybe I should have written "two" instead.
      - eru 10y ago
        Thanks.
- eru 10y ago
  > And Hartz IV is a neo-liberal's wet dream. Not really. UBI would be. The effective marginal tax rate for poor people is pretty high. (The conventional taxes are low, but each extra Euro earned pre-tax cuts into welfare a lot. That incentive ain't great---especially since welfare is a very stable income once you have all the bureaucracy sorted, but the kinds of jobs poor people get are often less stable. Especially jarring if getting a job involves sunk costs like buying a car or moving to a different city.)
- eru 10y ago
  Funny enough, the Euro was a quid pro quo in return for French approval of unification. (The French were basically forced to copy the Bundesbank's monetary policy. Their politicians had hoped to meddle more with the ECB.) See eg http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/the-price-of-unity-was-the-deutsche-mark-sacrificed-for-reunification-a-719940.html http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/the-price-of-uni... (lots more to be found with some searching).

by Erikun 10y ago

netsharc 10y ago

The "recovery" out of that sickness is a bit fake, it's just because 18 other countries agreed to use German currency (a.k.a. the Euro) that Germany now is looking better than the rest of the continent: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jun/22/greece-eurozone-germans-single-currency http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jun/22/greece-... And Hartz IV is a neo-liberal's wet dream.

allendoerfer 10y ago
It was more like "other countries (aka France) demanded the Germanies to join the Euro in order for them to reunite". No Euro, no reunification. The German people were really scared of joining weak currencies like the Lira and others, having gone through multiple hyperinflations historically and finally having a super solid and strong Mark. That is also why the ECB is a) independent of the member state goverments and b) in Frankfurt and not somewhere in France or Belgium like the other EU buildings are.
- eru 10y ago
  > [...] having gone through multiple hyperinflations historically [...] In the 20s and at the end of WWII? Any other one I missed?
  - allendoerfer 10y ago
    Not to my knowledge. Maybe I should have written "two" instead.
    - eru 10y ago
      Thanks.
eru 10y ago
> And Hartz IV is a neo-liberal's wet dream. Not really. UBI would be. The effective marginal tax rate for poor people is pretty high. (The conventional taxes are low, but each extra Euro earned pre-tax cuts into welfare a lot. That incentive ain't great---especially since welfare is a very stable income once you have all the bureaucracy sorted, but the kinds of jobs poor people get are often less stable. Especially jarring if getting a job involves sunk costs like buying a car or moving to a different city.)
eru 10y ago
Funny enough, the Euro was a quid pro quo in return for French approval of unification. (The French were basically forced to copy the Bundesbank's monetary policy. Their politicians had hoped to meddle more with the ECB.) See eg http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/the-price-of-unity-was-the-deutsche-mark-sacrificed-for-reunification-a-719940.html http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/the-price-of-uni... (lots more to be found with some searching).