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A much more nuanced story can be told about Germany, see eg https://www.economist.com/europe/2019/10/31/germans-still-dont-agree-on-what-reunification-meant htt

A much more nuanced story can be told about Germany, see eg https://www.economist.com/europe/2019/10/31/germans-still-dont-agree-on-what-reunification-meant https://www.economist.com/europe/2019/10/31/germans-still-do... . When it comes to the Tesla factory, it will be right outside Berlin https://www.dw.com/en/tesla-factory-outside-berlin-to-cost-4-billion/a-51286353 https://www.dw.com/en/tesla-factory-outside-berlin-to-cost-4... .

ben_w 7y ago
Berlin is in the east of Germany. I live in Berlin, and have considered cycling to Poland and back as a day trip. One of my German coworkers remarks often that wages for any given job in former-DDR-areas are much lower than the same jobs in pre-reunification-Bundesrepublik-Deutschland-areas.
- swebs 7y ago
  Berlin was both. Hence why they had to build the wall.
  - ben_w 7y ago
    Yes, but the Tesla factory is “just outside” Berlin, so I didn’t feel that detail was important in this case.
  - IndrekR 7y ago
    West Berlin was a political enclave in DDR. ~150 km from the inner German border [1]. Just outside Berlin is pretty much ex-DDR territory. At the same time Berlin does have quite a strong foreign community and high migration, lately negative for Germans and positive for other ethnic groups [2]. It is the second largest city (by population) in Europe after London with much lower living costs [3]. Also Daimler and BMW have strong presence in Berlin. Those factors may have influenced the Tesla's decision a lot. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inner_German_border https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inner_German_border [2] https://www.statistik-berlin-brandenburg.de/produkte/kleinestatistik/AP_KleineStatistik_EN_2018_BE.pdf https://www.statistik-berlin-brandenburg.de/produkte/kleines... [3] https://teleport.org/compare/berlin-and-london/ https://teleport.org/compare/berlin-and-london/

ben_w 7y ago

Berlin is in the east of Germany. I live in Berlin, and have considered cycling to Poland and back as a day trip. One of my German coworkers remarks often that wages for any given job in former-DDR-areas are much lower than the same jobs in pre-reunification-Bundesrepublik-Deutschland-areas.

swebs 7y ago
Berlin was both. Hence why they had to build the wall.
- ben_w 7y ago
  Yes, but the Tesla factory is “just outside” Berlin, so I didn’t feel that detail was important in this case.
- IndrekR 7y ago
  West Berlin was a political enclave in DDR. ~150 km from the inner German border [1]. Just outside Berlin is pretty much ex-DDR territory. At the same time Berlin does have quite a strong foreign community and high migration, lately negative for Germans and positive for other ethnic groups [2]. It is the second largest city (by population) in Europe after London with much lower living costs [3]. Also Daimler and BMW have strong presence in Berlin. Those factors may have influenced the Tesla's decision a lot. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inner_German_border https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inner_German_border [2] https://www.statistik-berlin-brandenburg.de/produkte/kleinestatistik/AP_KleineStatistik_EN_2018_BE.pdf https://www.statistik-berlin-brandenburg.de/produkte/kleines... [3] https://teleport.org/compare/berlin-and-london/ https://teleport.org/compare/berlin-and-london/