4 ms·
>deserted villages in the eastern states Isn't that the consequence of half a century under communism?
by woodandsteel 9y ago
>deserted villages in the eastern states
Isn't that the consequence of half a century under communism?
- majewsky 9y agoNo, it's the consequence of merging two vastly different economies too fast. When the wall came down, most progressives in East Germany (i.e. those called "dissidents" by the Socialists) argued for a confederation of both German states with the longterm target of reunification. The West German government forced a quick reunification in order for their own companies to buy up the useful assets of East German economy via the Treuhandanstalt [1]. It's basically the same problem that you have inside the European Union today: Vastly different economies have been forced into a common currency without a political framework that pushes for a harmonic integration of the constituent economies, resulting in the industry sector of relatively underdeveloped economies like Greece to be utterly crushed by the German industry, degrading them to a source of cheap labor for German (or rather: multinational) corporations. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treuhandanstalt https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treuhandanstalt