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(Disclaimer: I know nothing about economy, and the very little I've read made no sense to me) I keep reading about how Germany's "zero debt" economic policy is

(Disclaimer: I know nothing about economy, and the very little I've read made no sense to me) I keep reading about how Germany's "zero debt" economic policy is bad for the country, and how bleak Germany's future is. That is, everyone seems to agree on this... except for the Germans, who say nothing about it while they continue being one of the top 5 economies in the world. Lots of these analysis come from the US, which to me makes even less sense: why would anyone listen to the country who got paralyzed when they couldn't keep getting even more in debt? How come George Soros can suggest[1] that Europe should go to war against Russia as a mean for stimulating the economy, and do it with a straight face? Every article seems to suggest that German economists are a bunch of amateurs who don't know what they are doing. But from my layman's point of view, it certainly doesn't look that way. [1] http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/nov/20/wake-up-europe/ http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/nov/20/wake-up...

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
happyscrappy 12y ago
Only 14% of the U.S. economy is export. Almost 50% of Germany's economy is export. Edit: changed 80 to 50. Not sure where I saw that number.
- bildung 12y ago
  > Only 14% of the U.S. economy is export. Over 80% of Germany's economy is export. It only seems to be a bit more than 40%: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.EXP.GNFS.ZS http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.EXP.GNFS.ZS
- lispm 12y ago
  > Over 80% of Germany's economy is export. Germany has a GDP of 3 Trillion Euro. It had exports of 1 Trillion Euro.
  - urschrei 12y ago
    Trillion. And those numbers look a little low.
lispm 12y ago
A lot is economic warfare. Remember the Euro collapsing next day? Soros was claiming that. A lot of 'experts' were claiming that. What happened? Nothing. You could read all year that the Germans were already printing Deutsche Marks to get a away from the Euro. Even Greece. Totally overblown. Greece is a tiny country. Its GDP is half that of Bavaria.
bildung 12y ago
> I keep reading about how Germany's "zero debt" economic policy is bad for the country, and how bleak Germany's future is. That is, everyone seems to agree on this... except for the Germans, who say nothing about it while they continue being one of the top 5 economies in the world. Staying in the top 5 means maintaining growth. Growth can be domestic or from exports - Germany could either keep depressing local wages, thus furthering exports, or stop depressing local wages and neglecting infrastructure and education, thus furthering domestic growth. As I understood it, the argument of the critics is not about growth, its pointing out that Germanys export strategy creates massive collateral damage both in Gemany and in the Euro zone.
Ygg2 12y ago
It's like an algae bloom in an ocean, the German economy is strangling the rest of the Euro zone. If all countries were to exit Euro Zone, Euro would probably be echanged for 30-50% more than it's currently worth and then German economy would tank. > Every article seems to suggest that German economists are a bunch of amateurs who don't know what they are doing. But from my layman's point of view, it certainly doesn't look that way. They aren't amateurs. In same manner, people running Ponzi Schemes aren't dimwitted. It's a great system it benefits German export economy greatly but it does so at expense of others. Quick explanation: If you have weak currency, it's great for export, since stuff produced here is cheaper than elsewhere. And if currency is strong, then that favors imports, because your currency buys more in outsider market than in yours. However the more you export, the more valued currency becomes and the more you can buy with your currency, which leads to increased import. But Germany doesn't need to ever grow its imports, because they have other countries like Greece, Italy, etc. to drag the value down. What Germany is doing is eating its cake, having it too, at expense of other states and then blaming them for not having any cake. Because Germany doesn't import enough, other countries can't recover and to make matters worse, they can't export since German products based on Euro and of higher quality and equal price.
- lispm 12y ago
  > Quick explanation: If you have weak currency, it's great for export, since stuff produced here is cheaper than elsewhere. And if currency is strong, then that favors imports, because your currency buys more in outsider market than in yours. Germany has been running an export surplusses for decades. With the Euro and without.
  - Ygg2 12y ago
    Yes, and I had a 97 degree temperature, for a long time before it started rising to 104. In essence, yes they had, but not as growing as this one.
    - lispm 12y ago
      German exports were growing before. Germany was the world's largest exporter for several years. Now it's no longer. > In essence, yes they had, but not as growing as this one. Germany got more people now after reunification, built brand new production facilities in East Germany, built new production in Eastern Europe, got new markets, ...
yxhuvud 12y ago
It does look that way if you look at the correct numbers. Look at productivity per capita and you will notice that it has been mostly flat for more than a decade.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

happyscrappy 12y ago

Only 14% of the U.S. economy is export. Almost 50% of Germany's economy is export. Edit: changed 80 to 50. Not sure where I saw that number.

bildung 12y ago
> Only 14% of the U.S. economy is export. Over 80% of Germany's economy is export. It only seems to be a bit more than 40%: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.EXP.GNFS.ZS http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.EXP.GNFS.ZS
lispm 12y ago
> Over 80% of Germany's economy is export. Germany has a GDP of 3 Trillion Euro. It had exports of 1 Trillion Euro.
- urschrei 12y ago
  Trillion. And those numbers look a little low.

lispm 12y ago

A lot is economic warfare. Remember the Euro collapsing next day? Soros was claiming that. A lot of 'experts' were claiming that. What happened? Nothing. You could read all year that the Germans were already printing Deutsche Marks to get a away from the Euro. Even Greece. Totally overblown. Greece is a tiny country. Its GDP is half that of Bavaria.

bildung 12y ago

> I keep reading about how Germany's "zero debt" economic policy is bad for the country, and how bleak Germany's future is. That is, everyone seems to agree on this... except for the Germans, who say nothing about it while they continue being one of the top 5 economies in the world. Staying in the top 5 means maintaining growth. Growth can be domestic or from exports - Germany could either keep depressing local wages, thus furthering exports, or stop depressing local wages and neglecting infrastructure and education, thus furthering domestic growth. As I understood it, the argument of the critics is not about growth, its pointing out that Germanys export strategy creates massive collateral damage both in Gemany and in the Euro zone.

Ygg2 12y ago

It's like an algae bloom in an ocean, the German economy is strangling the rest of the Euro zone. If all countries were to exit Euro Zone, Euro would probably be echanged for 30-50% more than it's currently worth and then German economy would tank. > Every article seems to suggest that German economists are a bunch of amateurs who don't know what they are doing. But from my layman's point of view, it certainly doesn't look that way. They aren't amateurs. In same manner, people running Ponzi Schemes aren't dimwitted. It's a great system it benefits German export economy greatly but it does so at expense of others. Quick explanation: If you have weak currency, it's great for export, since stuff produced here is cheaper than elsewhere. And if currency is strong, then that favors imports, because your currency buys more in outsider market than in yours. However the more you export, the more valued currency becomes and the more you can buy with your currency, which leads to increased import. But Germany doesn't need to ever grow its imports, because they have other countries like Greece, Italy, etc. to drag the value down. What Germany is doing is eating its cake, having it too, at expense of other states and then blaming them for not having any cake. Because Germany doesn't import enough, other countries can't recover and to make matters worse, they can't export since German products based on Euro and of higher quality and equal price.

lispm 12y ago
> Quick explanation: If you have weak currency, it's great for export, since stuff produced here is cheaper than elsewhere. And if currency is strong, then that favors imports, because your currency buys more in outsider market than in yours. Germany has been running an export surplusses for decades. With the Euro and without.
- Ygg2 12y ago
  Yes, and I had a 97 degree temperature, for a long time before it started rising to 104. In essence, yes they had, but not as growing as this one.
  - lispm 12y ago
    German exports were growing before. Germany was the world's largest exporter for several years. Now it's no longer. > In essence, yes they had, but not as growing as this one. Germany got more people now after reunification, built brand new production facilities in East Germany, built new production in Eastern Europe, got new markets, ...

yxhuvud 12y ago

It does look that way if you look at the correct numbers. Look at productivity per capita and you will notice that it has been mostly flat for more than a decade.