Germany went from envy of the world to the worst-performing major developed economy. What happened? (apnews.com)

submitted 1 year ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world

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For most of this century, Germany racked up one economic success after another, dominating global markets for high-end products like luxury cars and industrial machinery, selling so much to the rest of the world that half the economy ran on exports.

Jobs were plentiful, the government’s financial coffers grew as other European countries drowned in debt, and books were written about what other countries could learn from Germany.

No longer. Now, Germany is the world’s worst-performing major developed economy, with both the International Monetary Fund and European Union expecting it to shrink this year.

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[-] autotldr@lemmings.world 3 points 1 year ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:

Germany risks “deindustrialization” as high energy costs and government inaction on other chronic problems threaten to send new factories and high-paying jobs elsewhere, said Christian Kullmann, CEO of major German chemical company Evonik Industries AG.

From his 21st-floor office in the west German town of Essen, Kullmann points out the symbols of earlier success across the historic Ruhr Valley industrial region: smokestacks from metal plants, giant heaps of waste from now-shuttered coal mines, a massive BP oil refinery and Evonik’s sprawling chemical production facility.

After Russia cut off most of its gas to the European Union, spurring an energy crisis in the 27-nation bloc that had sourced 40% of the fuel from Moscow, the German government asked Evonik to keep its 1960s coal-fired power plant running a few months longer.

These outside shocks have exposed cracks in Germany’s foundation that were ignored during years of success, including lagging use of digital technology in government and business and a lengthy process to get badly needed renewable energy projects approved.

A 10 billion-euro ($10.68 billion) electrical line bringing wind power from the breezier north to industry in the south has faced costly delays from political resistance to unsightly above-ground towers.

Germany grew complacent during a “golden decade” of economic growth in 2010-2020 based on reforms under Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in 2003-2005 that lowered labor costs and increased competitiveness, says Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg bank.

The original article contains 1,323 words, the summary contains 234 words. Saved 82%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

[-] Something_Complex@lemmy.world -1 points 1 year ago

That's easy, Merkel left

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[-] FarceMultiplier@lemmy.ca -1 points 1 year ago

Dunno...probably has something to do with their psychotic Russian neighbours lowering property values or something.

[+] Kra@mtgzone.com -12 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

low birth rate. Having children is expensive, we have a lack of affordable housing and childcare for families. There should be a major focus to support families, especially academic families. The most successful people don't reproduce, leading to a massive desrease in intelligence.
mass immigration from Africa and Arab countries which don't contribute a lot to the society but cost a lot of money and bring violence to Germany. The government does nothing against this and the people are unhappy about this, leading to increasing social tensions. Also increasing the housing problem massively
not enough immigration of actual educated people from Asia or america for example. Germany is becoming more and more unattractive for those people
too many uneducated people living from welfare. If you have a low paying job you may as well live from welfare. Because pay is a joke. Even for educated people, sometimes it is financially just better to live from welfare then to work in some situations.
in the light of COVID, a war in Europe, mass immigration and inflation, our politics here do a lot to make life for working people even more expensive, and increase welfare instead of pressuring the people to educate themselves. Green ideology is leading the country to it's grave. Germany thinks it can save the world climate alone by destroying its own industry, and by making everyone poor. No, we don't need heat pumps, at least not RIGHT NOW when everyone is struggling. Cost of everything are increasing, taxes are getting more expensive, health care is more expensive, having a car to get to work is getting more expensive, energy is getting more expensive. You work and almost all the money flows towards those things. Might as well live from welfare where the state pays for energy, housing and gas
not enough people in STEM, too many people study something that leads to no innovation. Innovation is essential for Germany.

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this post was submitted on 20 Sep 2023

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