Utopia Talk / Politics / The golden years of Germany

Daemon Member	Thu Jan 04 12:24:26 Heil Merkel, saviour of Germany, heil! Glad that we didn't change our economic politics^^ http://www...54-f089-11e7-b220-857e26d1aca4 German economic boom puts record numbers into work Unemployment at lowest in 27 years as exports surge and consumer spending rises https://www.ft.com/content/3806aa54-f089-11e7-b220-857e26d1aca4 yesterday Germany’s unemployment has reached a fresh record low as the upswing in Europe’s largest economy continues to gather pace. Data released by the federal labour office on Wednesday found that the seasonally-adjusted jobless total fell last month by 29,000 to 2.44m — a sharper drop than most analysts had expected. The unemployment rate stood at 5.5 per cent, the same as in November and the lowest level since German reunification in 1990. The workforce grew last year to a record 44.4m, according to data released on Tuesday. Officials said there were 183,000 fewer unemployed people registered in December than a year earlier — a decline Rolf Schneider, economist at Allianz, described as “astonishing” in light of the movement of workers within the EU and the large numbers of refugees coming into Germany. The data underscore the robustness of Germany’s boom. The country’s exports are up on the global economic recovery, tax revenues are surging and a combination of rising real wages and historically low interest rates has fuelled an increase in consumer spending. Germany’s gross domestic product grew 2.3 per cent in 2017, up from 1.9 per cent in 2016, and the government’s council of economic advisers expect growth of 2.2 per cent this year. Last year’s growth contributed to a significant recovery in the eurozone and also helped fuel neighbouring economies such as the Czech Republic. The economic news provides a welcome backdrop for talks this month between Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc and the left-of-centre Social Democrats on forming a new “grand coalition”. Germany has now in effect been without a government since inconclusive elections for the Bundestag in September. Ms Merkel had previously sought to form a three-way coalition with the environmental Greens and the liberal Free Democrats, but those talks collapsed in November. Experts said they expect the boom to continue. Jörg Zeuner, chief economist at state-owned development bank KfW, said he saw “no signs that the German economy’s buoyant growth will stop any time soon”. Mr Zeuner said 2018 would bring new record employment and a “palpable increase in real wages”. He forecast the workforce would rise by 600,000 this year to reach almost 45m, while the ranks of unemployed would drop by 200,000. The downside of Germany’s robust labour market is that companies and industry groups increasingly complain of a shortage of skilled workers. Detlef Scheele, head of the federal labour office, said demand for new workers, “already on a high level, is continuing to increase substantially”.
Hot Rod Revved Up	Thu Jan 04 13:21:41 So, now do you appreciate President Trump?
Daemon Member	Thu Jan 04 14:01:17 Does not compute.
Hot Rod Revved Up	Thu Jan 04 14:14:09 :)
Seb Member	Fri Jan 05 18:43:00 So lets get this straight - Germany is seeing mass migration from the rest of the EU, wages are only now starting to rise (still well below what it should be). Equally, this means less employed outside of Germany, leaving dependents behind exacerbating fiscal imbalances. This simply means that Germany is continuing to export deflation elsewhere. Yes, jolly good for Germany - but points to ongoing structural problems with the Euro zone as a whole generated by this combination of policies. Generally, economic centers that hollow out their periphery eventually experience collapse.
Daemon Member	Fri Jan 12 06:43:42 http://www...conomy-powers-on-idUSKBN1F018G In surplus and growing fast, German economy powers on January 11, 2018 BERLIN (Reuters) - Economic growth in Germany hit a six-year high in 2017 and its public finances posted a record surplus, fuelling hopes of another strong showing in 2018 and sharpening a debate about how its next government should manage the windfall. ... Separate statistics office data on Thursday showed the public sector as a whole posted a record surplus of 38.4 billion euros in 2017, making clear just how much wiggle room the government has to trim the tax burden and increase spending. ... Growth reached 2.2 percent, the federal statistics office said on Thursday. That missed a Reuters poll forecast of 2.4 percent but was still the highest since 2011 with consumer spending, boosted by ultra-low borrowing costs, record high employment and rising wages, providing the biggest impetus. A breakdown of Thursday’s GDP data showed capital investments were the second-largest growth driver, contributing 0.6 percentage points. Exports contributed 0.2 percentage points. ...
Daemon Member	Wed Jan 17 09:22:47 What Diesel scandal? http://www...e2-fb5f-11e7-9b32-d7d59aace167 Volkswagen, the world’s largest carmaker by sales, increased deliveries to another record in 2017, indicating that the reputational damage from the diesel emissions scandal exposed in late 2015 has had little impact on car sales. The German group, which comprises 12 brands including VW, Porsche and Audi, says 2017 sales rose 4.3 per cent to 10.74m units last year. In December alone sales rose 8.5 per cent to almost 1m units. ...
jergul large member	Wed Jan 17 09:41:43 Seb I am not sure your description is correct. First we have workforce mobility as a founding EU principle. So intra union migration is more a feature than a bug. But more importantly. Does data support a center-hinterland perspective? More convincingly than the same argument could have been made against the UK (specifically - London)?
jergul large member	Wed Jan 17 09:44:03 http://tra...l-growth-rate?continent=europe
smart dude Member	Wed Jan 17 09:55:11 I can't believe after WW1 and WW2 that Germany still gets to be a country.
Hot Rod Revved Up	Wed Jan 17 18:14:13 What are you going to do with it>
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