German exports plunge

[sasguru]

Still making Stukas are they?

No but they've got plenty of under-utilised factories they can convert.

[darmstadt]

Russia screwed

China screwed

[AlfredJPruffock]

Seriously though, if the Germans are this fooked, the PIIGS won't have anyone to pull them through. Watch the riots and civil unrest spread from Greece to the other weak economies as time goes on ...
Whereas if things get really bad here, I suspect the old Blitz spirit will be alive and well.

Well said that man.

I dont know about you , but Ive beeen quite astonished at the sheer level of defeatism expressed by some of the posters.

We should not forget not so long ago we had to fight and many sacrificed their very lifes to gain the freedoms we have today.

[BlasterBates]

Sh**te Germany in trouble.

The only economy sinking faster is:

UK manufacturing output falls 2.9%

On the bright side that isn't as steep a fall as in the UK services sector.

[Purple Dalek]

Well said that man.

I dont know about you , but Ive beeen quite astonished at the sheer level of defeatism expressed by some of the posters.

We should not forget not so long ago we had to fight and many sacrificed their very lifes to gain the freedoms we have today.

The freedoms we've had taken away...

[AlfredJPruffock]

Sh**te Germany in trouble.

The only economy sinking faster is:

UK manufacturing output falls 2.9%

On the bright side that isn't as steep a fall as in the UK services sector.

BB for better or worse we barley have a manufacturing sector today.

Truth is that the EU remains our bigegst export market - but we dont manufacture much these days.

Thats been Eastern Euopre and of course Chinas job.

Go figure.

PS full marks for supporting your cause - the others seemed to have melted like snow on a spring day.

[BlasterBates]

That's true the UK depends on:

services

so that manufacturing decline doesn't matter too much

[sasguru]

That's true the UK depends on:

services

so that manufacturing decline doesn't matter too much

The point being that you could look at services in any country and see similar declines. Make no mistake everyone's going to hurt, but I seriously suspect that this downturn will cause a systemic decline in manufacturing in Europe.

The plain fact as I have pointed out previously is that you cannot pay people 30-40 Euro per hour to screw cars together. There's no value added there.

[DimPrawn]

http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking...ry_323551.html

"Mr Kraemer said the collapse in exports underpinned his bank's forecast that German output would decline by a record 2.0 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2008 from the previous three-month period. "

A 2% fall in the quarter. This is worse than the UK.
It turns out that an over reliance on exports is not a clever strategy when the gloabalised economy contracts at the same time.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8198766.stm

The French and German economies both grew by 0.3% between April and June, bringing to an end year-long recessions in Europe's largest economies.

Stronger exports and consumer spending, as well as government stimulus packages, contributed to the growth.

[ThomasSoerensen]

This is just 1 quarter.

It is very likely that the next quarters are negative.

Do you still call BOOM?