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And yet.. Germany has probably the most successful economy in the world. I guess being friendly to startups and freelancers just ain't that important?
by adwhit 9y ago
And yet.. Germany has probably the most successful economy in the world. I guess being friendly to startups and freelancers just ain't that important?
- netsharc 9y agoHaving countries peg their currencies to yours certainly helped: http://fortune.com/2014/10/22/why-germany-is-the-eurozones-biggest-free-rider/ http://fortune.com/2014/10/22/why-germany-is-the-eurozones-b... , meanwhile the other Euro countries are suffering. Even freaking Finland. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jun/22/greece-eurozone-germans-single-currency https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jun/22/greece...
- aaron-lebo 9y agoWhat metric are you using to measure successful?
- adwhit 9y agoHigh productivity, huge trade surplus, low unemployment, very high standard of living
- _Tev 9y agoHuge trade surplus (and resulting low unemployment) is effect of the euro, which is undervalued for Germany (and overvalued for most of the eurozone). Germany sure is nice country to live in, but it benefits a lot at the expense of others.
- wolco 9y agoaverage and peak developer income would be a good metric.
- tormeh 9y ago>Germany has probably the most successful economy in the world Nope. Not even in the EU. Not even close. Where does this myth come from? Is it that it has passed the UK per capita? I mean, there are loads of nice things about Germany, and economic strength is one, but that's a wild exaggeration.
- orf 9y agoWell, it's the biggest capital exporter in the world (huge surplus) and is the third largest exporter in total. It's also got the highest GDP in the EU by a fair margin. Per-capita in the EU is skewed by a fair number of very small but very very rich countries. Luxembourg, the leader, being a tax haven and a population of half a million (!!) does not make it the healthiest and best economy.
- tormeh 9y agoTotal GDP is irrelevant to everything. People use it like it means something, and it's just annoying.
- orf 9y agoOk, that's quite convenient. What metric would you use? Because Germany has a higher GDP per capita than the UK or France. It would be a hard point to argue that any other country in the EU has a stronger economy than those three.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- dx034 9y agoThere's no reliable indicator to define success. GDP per capita is skewed heavily by some industries and doesn't represent how well people are doing. Germany is certainly not the richest country in Europe but it has been one of the most successful when measured vs. 15 years ago. But that was achieved mainly by keeping wages low so that Germans, while usually living comfortably and not threatened by unemployment, have much less wealth than people in the UK or US.
- granitosaurus 9y agoGermany is also a super power since well before startups and beurocracy were even a thing. It seems like an apples vs oranges comparison.
- john_moscow 9y agoIf you have BMW, VW, Daimler, Siemens, Bosch and Liebherr, you can afford not being friendly to startups. Until the next market turn or a disruptive tech makes those irrelevant.
- rmoriz 9y agoTrue. They try to fish startup founders by running corporate incubators but they will make sure that you won‘t get a high exit. If the idea works you‘ll get a job offer. If you decline, they will drop support like a hot potato. And because they know all insights, no other competitor is interested in you anymore. It‘s kind of a faux startup culture just to sell some „coolness“ to attract people to big corps.
- dx034 9y agoNot sure. I've heard from a lot of start ups recently moving from London to Berlin. I doubt many start ups have the complexity of the tax system high up on their list. It's about finding talent (where Berlin improved a lot over recent years) and to some degree costs (where parts of London have become extremely expensive). But it's probably mostly network effects. The US has an extremely complex tax code and SV is one of the most expensive places to live. It still remains a favourite among founders.
- holydude 9y agoSuccessful yes. Harmful and not very sustainable for everyone. Absolutely.