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Maybe the globalized world at any one time can only sustain one Germany with it's hidden champions. But ofcourse it's easier and well paying to travel around th

by yuli67 9y ago

Maybe the globalized world at any one time can only sustain one Germany with it's hidden champions. But ofcourse it's easier and well paying to travel around the world and tell everyone they can be like Germany too.

dx034 9y ago
The world can sustain more than one because it already does. Switzerland has a very similar structure and is as successful, if not even more successful. It also shows that Germany doesn't just succeed because of a cheap exchange rate, since most products hidden champions produce aren't that price sensitive. The world could probably sustain even more companies that focus on long term growth and quality instead of quick products. But that's not how you become famous. You become famous by making a quick app used by millions that you can IPO a few years later. So that's what many people in the world try to achieve. Not building a small company over decades that specializes in something which most people don't even know exists.
- IIIIIIIIIIII 9y ago
  As a German I of course (quite irrationally) like the praise for "my" country (I actually feel I'm human, and being German is just birth luck, especially since I benefited enormously from the reunification). On the other hand, OP has a point. This is once more an example of what works for anyone vs. what works for everyone. The countries you name all are very small. Imagine Asia getting even better (they probably will), and imagine African countries getting their act together (as unlikely though it may be). Who would buy all those machines and parts? Also, another great potential for future trouble is that an oversized part of our economy is bound to making cars. The "Zulieferers" (component suppliers) are much larger than the actual car makers, and they are all "Mittelstand". If they have to find new customers some day... electrical cares require a lot less expertise and less parts I'm told, plus ever more "growth", meaning ever more cars, isn't such a promising model (looking at Asian city traffic...).

by yuli67 9y ago

dx034 9y ago

The world can sustain more than one because it already does. Switzerland has a very similar structure and is as successful, if not even more successful. It also shows that Germany doesn't just succeed because of a cheap exchange rate, since most products hidden champions produce aren't that price sensitive. The world could probably sustain even more companies that focus on long term growth and quality instead of quick products. But that's not how you become famous. You become famous by making a quick app used by millions that you can IPO a few years later. So that's what many people in the world try to achieve. Not building a small company over decades that specializes in something which most people don't even know exists.

IIIIIIIIIIII 9y ago
As a German I of course (quite irrationally) like the praise for "my" country (I actually feel I'm human, and being German is just birth luck, especially since I benefited enormously from the reunification). On the other hand, OP has a point. This is once more an example of what works for anyone vs. what works for everyone. The countries you name all are very small. Imagine Asia getting even better (they probably will), and imagine African countries getting their act together (as unlikely though it may be). Who would buy all those machines and parts? Also, another great potential for future trouble is that an oversized part of our economy is bound to making cars. The "Zulieferers" (component suppliers) are much larger than the actual car makers, and they are all "Mittelstand". If they have to find new customers some day... electrical cares require a lot less expertise and less parts I'm told, plus ever more "growth", meaning ever more cars, isn't such a promising model (looking at Asian city traffic...).