How Germany got it right on the economy
washingtonpost.com
How Germany got it right on the economy
1–10 of 77 posts
Re: How Germany got it right on the economy
#2Weren't the problems with the American economy foretold before the financial crisis? We haven't even hit the big problems. You can only borrow for so long and kick the can down the road.
Re: How Germany got it right on the economy
#3An excellent article that clearly illustrates how, if you properly educate and invest in your population and provide a societal structure that allows these people to have a say, then, instead of society imploding, it actually flourishes. Not that anyone in western govt's are listening...
Re: How Germany got it right on the economy
#4I think one of the interesting things about Germany, Japan, and China is that they are NOT strictly capitalist countries, and they do NOT follow Chicago style economic models (which, ahem, seem to be inaccurate when one attempts to verify them empirically). I think a little bit of socialism is necessary to keep a thriving industry (not finance) driven economy going. Trade barriers, spending on long term public education and welfare and infrastructure, long term economic planning not based on this quarters dividends, a dash of regulation to curb the worst abusers, some subsidies to beef up struggling sectors that contribute the greater good, an efficient and highly monitored bureaucracy, and zero tolerance for anti-social behavior (whether by the powerful or the proletariat); these are what made the USA an industrial economy from 1776 to about 1976, and they are still a recipe for success.
Re: How Germany got it right on the economy
#5While certainly Germany has done a lot right and deserve credit for their current economic strength, we have to recognize that they've both chosen a very different path: i.e. stability over growth, and also have a very different culture than we Anglo-Saxons - which I would argue are quite inter-related.
When it comes to quality manufactured goods, Germany is legendary and has strongly biased its economy over the past 100 years to take advantage.
The US & Briton on the other hand, have always been first movers to adopt breakthrough tech - often at the expense of quality, stability of investments, etc, and are seemingly always better at the "soft" side of business: sales & marketing.
The world needs both the Teutonic and Anglo-Saxon models, and seemingly they both are still going to head down the same paths as before will little change in overall direction - with the exception of America trying to get better educated the Germans trying to become better sales/marketers.
Re: How Germany got it right on the economy
#6I think one of the interesting things about Germany, Japan, and China is that they are NOT strictly capitalist countries, and they do NOT follow Chicago style economic models (which, ahem, seem to be inaccurate when one attempts to verify them empirically). I think a little bit of socialism is necessary to keep a thriving industry (not finance) driven economy going. Trade barriers, spending on long term public educat…
Well generally I agree except for this:
Trade barriers
WTF?! Trade barriers are very, very bad for industrial economies.
Also, I think the case for subsidies is arguable at best. Subsidies may be useful in emerging market sectors, but are usually better structured as public spending on research etc. (Obviously argument this doesn't apply to health care any more than it does to other areas of public good such as roads, police, defense etc)
Re: How Germany got it right on the economy
#7Gordon Gekko, in the original Wallstreet said greed is good for all stakeholder interests because it eliminates wastes.
Shareholder vs. Stakeholder (employees, customers, community,and investors as opposed to just investors) is an important consideration for CEOs. Wallstreet makes it difficult for companies to plan longterm, and many companies speak of the importance of the CUSTOMER (and the community), but mean INVESTOR.
CEO Entreprenuers get the chance to choose for themselves, stakeholders vs just shareholders. The work of some German companies over the last two decades is an encouraging example.
Re: How Germany got it right on the economy
#8I think one of the interesting things about Germany, Japan, and China is that they are NOT strictly capitalist countries, and they do NOT follow Chicago style economic models (which, ahem, seem to be inaccurate when one attempts to verify them empirically). I think a little bit of socialism is necessary to keep a thriving industry (not finance) driven economy going. Trade barriers, spending on long term public educat…
Well generally I agree except for this: Trade barriers WTF?! Trade barriers are very, very bad for industrial economies. Also, I think the case for subsidies is arguable at best. Subsidies may be useful in emerging market sectors, but are usually better structured as public spending on research etc. (Obviously argument this doesn't apply to health care any more than it does to other areas of public good such as roads…
Trade barriers, in the sense of protective tariffs to prevent outside manufactures selling cheaply in your domestic market, can be very, very, very good for industrial development.
Governing a nation is like cooking a small fish, grasshopper. A little bit of salt (subsidies, tariffs, regulation, taxation to pay for infrastructure, etc) is a wonderful thing, too much salt is unfortunately very easy to apply. And arguments about whether salt "is good" or "is bad" are just plain silly and show that you haven't cooked that many fish.
Re: How Germany got it right on the economy
#9While certainly Germany has done a lot right and deserve credit for their current economic strength, we have to recognize that they've both chosen a very different path: i.e. stability over growth, and also have a very different culture than we Anglo-Saxons - which I would argue are quite inter-related. When it comes to quality manufactured goods, Germany is legendary and has strongly biased its economy over the past…
Well stated. The US can learn from Germany though. A mild midcourse correction could help.
The US needs to emphasize the value of all stakeholders. With this, the US will have greater growth over the longterm. Its the stable growth economies that grow and prosper over the boom-and-bust economies.
Re: How Germany got it right on the economy
#10While certainly Germany has done a lot right and deserve credit for their current economic strength, we have to recognize that they've both chosen a very different path: i.e. stability over growth, and also have a very different culture than we Anglo-Saxons - which I would argue are quite inter-related. When it comes to quality manufactured goods, Germany is legendary and has strongly biased its economy over the past…
Well stated. The US can learn from Germany though. A mild midcourse correction could help. The US needs to emphasize the value of all stakeholders. With this, the US will have greater growth over the longterm. Its the stable growth economies that grow and prosper over the boom-and-bust economies.
Certainly US system suffers from myopia. Though I'm not sure at what point we stifle the swashbuckling nature that has made us the country of the new in business/tech/research.
I err on the side of increased transparency of financial sector, stronger FTC actions against monopolists, IP reform, etc. than on Germany's more activist bent. Ours is more of an economy of the new, and our Anglo-Saxon nature should be embraced by better regulation - not necessarily more.