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How Germany is able to run the world’s second largest export economy

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Re: How Germany is able to run the world’s second largest export economy

#141

Post by paganel »

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #60
geff82 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Someone with a regular job can not afford a house close to a major city any more and for sure can not afford any desirable German car. People dress cheaply, buy used cars and many live in frugal appartments, buy in stores that many American or Canadians would consider third world (never ever go buy stuff in an Aldi when you are used to Canadian standards...).

Indeed, expats are lured here thinking Germany is the Promised Land but realize too late that they can't afford to buy a family worthy home on your average white collar wage and due to how German corporate politics work, most of the non-natives are locked out of the lucrative careers even when speaking the language. Like someone said, Germany is a rich country of poor people.

> Germany is a rich country of poor people

I suspect something similar happens across the border in Switzerland. I visited the French part of it a couple of times about 3 years ago and I was surprised how crowded the second-hand clothes stores in downtown Lausanne were (and the fact that there were any SH stores in that area at all). Also, looking at the prices in there and unless there’s some hidden UBI system up and running of which I’m unaware of I can’t imagine how come a low-middle class Swiss family can afford to live there. I do understand that wages correlate somehow with the cost of living, but I imagine that if you happen to fall between the cracks (you’re unemployed or you have landed a bad-paying job) then things are not that easy.

Re: How Germany is able to run the world’s second largest export economy

#142

Post by gharding »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #137
olivermarks wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Germany is a very new country (1871) and still comprised of markedly different regions. the French German axis has increasingly dominated the EU and driven a strong export culture. As globalization has hit a plateau Germany are now in a tricky position. Many are loathe to admit it but the 'desirable products' Germany produces have a very distinctive Germanic flavor which people identify strongly with the idea of Germ…

> Germany is a very new country (1871) and still comprised of markedly different regions. Interestingly, this is apparent in the genetics of Germans. You can distinguish, say, Frenchmen from non-Frenchmen fairly easily -- they form a natural cluster. Germans don't form a German cluster; they break down into three clusters focused in the north, south, and east. Northern Germans may look more like Danes than they do li…

You clearly do not understand "the French" and you should be careful making those claims anywhere you go in France to any actual native European french people outside of Paris. Every single people native to every single region will despise you for making such vile claims.

Re: How Germany is able to run the world’s second largest export economy

#143

Post by imtringued »

Despegar wrote: post #48

I've said it before in another comment [1]: >There's nothing I enjoy more than the plight of the German Saver, who's obsession with "fiscal responsibility" has led to shitty austerity politics all across the EU (to be fair some other northern European countries like Netherlands also share the same view) and depressed growth for the poorer southern European countries. Germany has benefited most of all from the unfinis…

That only explains a small portion of the problems. The reality is that there are governments in the EU that are even more incompetent than Germany's and it hurts them more than some little currency problem. Austerity isn't solution but telling them to stop spending their money carelessly is a step in the right direction.

Re: How Germany is able to run the world’s second largest export economy

#144

Post by paganel »

wolfgke wrote: post #74
ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed, expats are lured here thinking Germany is the Promised Land but realize too late that they can't afford to buy a family worthy home on your average white collar wage and due to how German corporate politics work, most of the non-natives are locked out of the lucrative careers even when speaking the language. Like someone said, Germany is a rich country of poor people.

> Indeed, expats are lured here thinking Germany is the Promised Land Hardly any German person would claim to (or even lure) expats that Germany is the Promised land. The only reason I can think of any expat thinking about Germany as the Promised Land is self-delusion.

> The only reason I can think of any expat thinking about Germany as the Promised Land is self-delusion.

It happens a lot in Romania and I suspect in other Eastern-European countries too.

Re: How Germany is able to run the world’s second largest export economy

#145

Post by olivermarks »

Luc wrote: post #122
olivermarks wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are misrepresenting the original (now unviewable) post. That is disgraceful

> You are misrepresenting the original (now unviewable) post. That is disgraceful Uhm, those are literal quotes from the text. They're not even dog whistles, they're full on air raid sirens. Anyway, I'm done with this thread, have a nice day.

Again, you are misrepresenting. I am a strong believer in free speech. I don't know if it was you that flagged the post but I would much prefer to see a counter argument and rebuttal from you. Instead we get a casual and patronizing comment. Hacker News is usually great for reasoned argument and debate. It's sad to see this sort of glib fly by behaviour

Re: How Germany is able to run the world’s second largest export economy

#146

Post by ChuckNorris89 »

toyg wrote: post #118
jpfr wrote: post #33

The analysis is incomplete. It does not take services into account. Yes, Germany has a positive trade balance in goods. But the trade balance in services is negative. This ... well ... balances the balances. The UK has shifted its economy from production to services. Hence the negative trade balance for physical products excluding services.

This. I stopped reading when the author claimed the UK was the biggest exporter in 1993 and now it's not - well, duh: this country doesn't export low-margin widgets anymore, because it makes more money into high-margin services. A lot of those services are sold to... Germany.

Exactly, that's why IT salaries(especially contract rates) are higher in UK than in Germany. UK values knowledge work more.

Re: How Germany is able to run the world’s second largest export economy

#147

Post by ergothus »

zozbot234 wrote: post #134
ergothus wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Not a word about the fact that Germany simply produces desirable products? I dont think that's relevant though. Desirable products mean more countries buy your product, means the value of your currency changes, means your products are effectively "more expensive". Sharing a currency with other countries dilutes that effect, just like any prosperous region within a country sharing a currency with poorer regions. I'm…

Nope, tradable goods don't just become "more expensive" because of currency shifts. The prices of tradables are set in a global market and tied together by cross-trading (arbitrage) considerations. What happens when supplying a desirable product is that the industry seeks to expand and that might increase costs overall. The Dutch Disease is an extreme version of this, in which having a single dominating industry sect…

My economics is weak, can you break this down for me a bit?

If I'm selling widgets for $10 (USD), and Narnia wants to buy them at 2 Narnian gold pieces(gp) per USD, it would cost them 20gp each.

If the USD "improves", such that it is now 4 gp:$1, my widgets would be 40gp each, making my goods "more expensive" to foreign countries like Narnia.

Assuming you're correct, I have at least one flawed understanding above (entirely likely). Can you explain which assumption that is and why?

Thanks in advance!

Re: How Germany is able to run the world’s second largest export economy

#148

Post by hogFeast »

I stopped reading after the 10th historical inaccuracy. This is why economics/economic history is hard folks (not just the actual economics but creating something readable...this is basically unreadable). Germany, in particular, requires a fairly deep understanding of economics.

Re: How Germany is able to run the world’s second largest export economy

#149

Post by zozbot234 »

Despegar wrote: post #48

I've said it before in another comment [1]: >There's nothing I enjoy more than the plight of the German Saver, who's obsession with "fiscal responsibility" has led to shitty austerity politics all across the EU (to be fair some other northern European countries like Netherlands also share the same view) and depressed growth for the poorer southern European countries. Germany has benefited most of all from the unfinis…

Keeping the wages of workers down is good for workers' incomes if the alternative is high structural unemployment as seen in other Eurozone countries that are not so well managed. The fact that the supply of ready and willing labor has yet to be exhausted (which would ultimately boost wages and plausibly final consumption) is neither here nor there.

Re: How Germany is able to run the world’s second largest export economy

#150

Post by yzmtf2008 »

olivermarks wrote: post #145
Luc wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You are misrepresenting the original (now unviewable) post. That is disgraceful Uhm, those are literal quotes from the text. They're not even dog whistles, they're full on air raid sirens. Anyway, I'm done with this thread, have a nice day.

Again, you are misrepresenting. I am a strong believer in free speech. I don't know if it was you that flagged the post but I would much prefer to see a counter argument and rebuttal from you. Instead we get a casual and patronizing comment. Hacker News is usually great for reasoned argument and debate. It's sad to see this sort of glib fly by behaviour

> If one pollutes water with oil, the oil is also polluted with water, and neither are good for anything as both have had their valuable characteristics compromised.

> the Native French have been essentially eradicated

How are they misrepresenting when they are actual, literal quotes? The posts are viewable by the way, no one is being suppressed here.

> Hacker News is usually great for reasoned argument and debate.

Not for the kind of racist xenophobic "ideas" that the world has long moved on from. Perhaps the post being downvoted and flagged would have been a cue.

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