Britain v Germany

[sappatz]

Britain

Britain is like the hopelessly corrupt arab states it pretends to fight : a warmonger at its head, 1 more million civil servants since 1998 (guess why unemployment is so low), all this propped up by north sea oil.

[Rebecca Loos]

That may be true Alf, but Germany is going nowhere but down. Companies will not be able to manufacture there competitively for much longer and without any doubt unless they dismantle their social model they (and the rest of Europe) will eventually lose out to the Far East.

This is not true and belies a lack of knowledge about the German economy.

Germany is so successful at exporting because it does make stuff that no one else makes (or not as well anyway)

It's not so much cars that makes Germany a very successful exporter but factory tools and heavy machinery, which is something that no other European country does as well, never mind India or China. It takes skill, R&D, good management, and above all an impeccable reputation for this to work. Not as easy as making cheap sweaters by the billion.

[BlasterBates]

...there is of course the converse argument, one of the reasons German companies are so good is if they're to afford the high social costs they've got no choice but make high quality stuff otherwise they go out of business. Apparently German companies have invested loads in "non-human" labour. In contrast in Britain, labour's cheap, so Rover's assembly lines, before it went bankrupt, were full of clumsy monkeys unable to tighten screws properly etc etc.

[DodgyAgent]

This is not true and belies a lack of knowledge about the German economy.

Germany is so successful at exporting because it does make stuff that no one else makes (or not as well anyway)

It's not so much cars that makes Germany a very successful exporter but factory tools and heavy machinery, which is something that no other European country does as well, never mind India or China. It takes skill, R&D, good management, and above all an impeccable reputation for this to work. Not as easy as making cheap sweaters by the billion.

I am not disputing what you are saying loos at all. I am simply saying that the German economy is not going to grow and that its strong manufacturing base will dwindle as production moves to cheaper labour markets. At the moment much of german manufacturing remains in Germany because no one else speaks german and few developing nations have the engineering expertise necessary.. yet. If you dont think that the China will catch up then you are at best naive.

[milanbenes]

Hello Becs,

sometimes when DA writes nonsense like this...

"That may be true Alf, but Germany is going nowhere but down. Companies will not be able to manufacture there competitively for much longer and without any doubt unless they dismantle their social model they (and the rest of Europe) will eventually lose out to the Far East.
",

the only thing to do is to ignore it.

DA, if Germany was going down why hasn't it gone down yet ?

Milan.

[DodgyAgent]

Hello Becs,

sometimes when DA writes nonsense like this...

"That may be true Alf, but Germany is going nowhere but down. Companies will not be able to manufacture there competitively for much longer and without any doubt unless they dismantle their social model they (and the rest of Europe) will eventually lose out to the Far East.
",

the only thing to do is to ignore it.

DA, if Germany was going down why hasn't it gone down yet ?

Milan.

Because it has, loos points out, a very strong base so it will take time. Unemployment is increasing rapidly which will only put more of a burden on the economy. I am sorry Milan that you dont seem to understand basic economics

[wendigo100]

I am sorry Milan that you dont seem to understand basic economics

Oh dear (tm)

[Rebecca Loos]

Well Milan has got a plan B so he understands basic economics better than Gordon Brown for a start

DA, you are right that China and India or whoever could catch up, however the Germans do not sit tight and do nothing - they are also moving into higher and higher value-added gear (actually I don't know if they do, but I guess they are) which means that by the time China has caught up, Germany is already on a higher plane.

After all, they've been doing it pretty much since the end of WW2 - manufacturing countries like Japan, the UK and France for example have been trying to catch up, on some occasions they even thought they had caught up, but as has been proven in the last 2 years (byt the export figures), the Germans still have a massive advantage - which to me indicates that they are way ahead of the game.

But as you point, not everything is rosy in Germany. They are facing big unemployment problems. I think the State budget deficit is not looking too good either.

But when people compare the UK with Germany, they always take things in isolation, i.e. unemployment for example. Well, yes the Germans have got more unemployed people than the UK, but they can afford to have so many more.

Take money generated and unemployment together, for example, and then Germany would look in a much better overall shape than the UK. And that confirms the feeling left when visiting both countries - Germany looks so much richer and better managed. A bit more boring too.

[AlfredJPruffock]

Well, yes the Germans have got more unemployed people than the UK, but they can afford to have so many more.

Yes and much of that unemployment is inherited from the former East Germany,

However I believe that Germany has the largest standing army in Europe, the last time the Germans had mass unemployment we remember the solution was to expand the WehrMacht and launch upon millitary adventurism, the guns before butter policy.

The nightmare of German expansion in Europe has been diminished by the German integration European Union, so I am disturbed that the new administration in Germany is demanding the return to the Deutchmark and a rejection of the EU.

I swear I can almost hear the rumble of the Panzer tank engines here in Brussels,a point that the Euro Sceptics should take on board.

[Joe Black]

"I am disturbed that the new administration in Germany is demanding the return to the Deutchmark"

Ooh, having heard that one. Can you imagine the effect on the other Euro-denominated if that happened.

"I swear I can almost hear the rumble of the Panzer tank engines here in Brussels,a point that the Euro Sceptics should take on board."

Alf, thats the Metro, or simply the trains running through Brussel Centraal/Bruxelles-Central...unless you start hearing it at 4am in the morning that is.

Edited: so that I don't upset the french-speaking Belgians