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No, Germans are not more frugal than other people. The main issue behind lacklustre German consumption is that neither their wages nor their investment in infra
by yxhuvud 12y ago
No, Germans are not more frugal than other people. The main issue behind lacklustre German consumption is that neither their wages nor their investment in infrastructure has kept pace with their productivity growth.
- seizethecheese 12y agoWhat's your source, your intuition? Germany is one of the highest savers in the Euro area; much higher than Greece. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GNS.ICTR.ZS http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GNS.ICTR.ZS
- bildung 12y agoIf I understood GP right you both say the same: Being frugal means consuming less (= saving instead).
- antman 12y agoThis table does not mention personal savings. It is cannot provide insight, is as useless as GPD per capita.
- yxhuvud 12y agoThat Germany, the state, is living beneath its means does not say anything at all about the German people or if they save their wages or not.
- jahewson 12y agoWages and infrastructure are key factors, but they're not the complete story. Other countries have lower wages, yet import more per-capita.
- rwissmann 12y ago15-20 years ago Germany was the sick man of Europe. Labour market reforms in line with an industrialization boom in Asia restored the competitiveness of her industrial economy. The real problem with this argument is that they are too short-sighted. Germany cannot artificially reduce its competitiveness to appease other EU countries, because competition happens on a global stage and so the EU would simply lose out further to North America and Asia. Your are correct that Germany should spend more on infrastructure.
- galfarragem 12y agoCompletely agree. Just compare Athens or Lisbon subway with Berlin subway. It seems that Germany is the most poor of these countries.