(1) My comment was an addendum to the post which (partly) explained to another post(er) why German companies aren't moving their production to cheaper markets. I remind you of this because the author of the article and many people here have a rosy view of the economic situation in Germany. Seeing only the "positives" and blending out the "negatives" because they don't fit the official narrative isn't helpful for our discussion.
(2) Germany is the biggest country in EU (EU != Europe), has the largest workforce and, thus, the largest low-wage sector. Yes, that is correct. But it is not "easy", as this Eurostat graph shows:
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/...
You see Germany in the company with such economic powerhouses as Estonia, Poland, Lithuania, Romania, Latvia - all of them having a bit worse PERCENTAGE of low-wage workers than Germany. This is not someone's perception, or some narrative, these are hard numbers.
(3) You obviously didn't read the articles I've posted. Especially that from Nachdenkseiten as it lists many other issues not widely spoken about in the mainstream media - neither in Germany nor in other countries. It is an analysis from Prof. Dr. Gerhard Bosch (Geschäftsführender Direktor Institut Arbeit und Qualifikation Universität Duisburg-Essen). While we discuss the article published oh hbr.org, which talks about the causes for the success of the German economy, Mr. Bosch mentions the elephant in the room:
> German economic policy continues to be characterised by its excessive focus on exports. As a way of dealing with the euro crisis, the German federal government advises other countries to introduce their own labour market reforms on the model of the Hartz Acts. This policy, however, cannot be applied at will to other countries, since only by abolishing the laws of mathematics would be it possible for all countries to have export surpluses.
Meaning: German model doesn't work for others. And, it only works for Germany because others take a hit while Germany "takes" a surplus.
Yes, German economy/society has it's qualities. But would it be such a "success" without major influence in EU institutions, in ECB, without Euro, with other countries having their currencies (which they can devalue to make their good cheaper and imported - German - goods more expensive), with customs on its goods, with fairer wages in Germany? I highly doubt it.
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